Gremory Territory

[Apollymi]

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1762/41185157370_2933f775dc_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/25KoGqb)

The Gremory Clan has a territory that is about the same area of Honshu in Japan, and also has a vast number of castles for its kin. A very rich territory, it also has a developed industry. In the clan's territory is an area with a well shaded forest and a mountain range filled with high mountains. One of these mountains is taller than the highest mountain in Japan, Mount Fuji, with an elevation extending 4000 meters. There is also a huge lake.

[Bloodedge]

Following the scam of a Rating Game in which Eira and her peerage saw victory against Onoko Astaroth, Sirtreize Lucifer took it upon himself to transport Eira's group to the Gremory's Territory. The entire group would appear within a large bedroom upstairs in a mansion, next to a purple satin-covered bed that was curiously large enough in size that it could have held everyone in the room. Dozens upon dozens of guests were already downstairs to start the party, but Sirtreize would first see to it that everyone in the peerage was ready to participate. Sirtreize himself had a magic circle appear below his feet, and another overhead. They moved up and down respectively, magically replacing his clothes with a white suit jacket and pants, a black undershirt with its full cuffs showing beneath the coat, a red tie, and white dress shoes. "Okaerinasai, minna~. The party should be starting about now; everyone's just waiting for the guests of honor," he said to the group, pausing to place a hand upon his chin as he looked at them all. "I'm thinking of an entry that primarily features our victors. Eira and Takumi, arm in arm, and Miyuki-chan filling in the other side. Everybody else could be falling in behind them. That sounds lovely, doesn't it?" he went on to ask whilst wearing a suspiciously devilish smile.

Izuna was the first to respond, and he wore the same grin as Sirtreize when doing so. "Great idea! Or you could put both of our leading ladies in the arms of our strapping young stallion here!" he said, firing out his elbow to nudge Takumi. Takumi's eyes had been widened during this interaction. This was the Underworld, but his expectations of what would happen if he did this were drawn from his life as a human. Whatever his master wished, he would do his best to deliver, but he did not look forward to the potential backlash of it all. Knowing this from seeing Takumi since the events leading to his human death, Hiroki spoke through a smile with closed eyes. "Both of you are terrible."

[Apollymi]

Eira appeared within a bedroom and she seemed to be a tiny bit amused. Her brother mentioned how they should be entering and this made her shake her head from left to right. Even though she had no problem with the idea of her two winners being the ones at her side, obviously the teasing from the others which happened while two magic circles appeared around her, seemed to redress her as well. It seemed that Eira had a sense of irony or rather pettiness, as the dress she chose to don looked dangerously close to a white sleeveless wedding dress. This look was completed with long sleeved white gloves and a red rose which was pinned to a split. She'd toss around her crimson locks and once she had grin from left to right. "Hiro's right, you guys are terrible. Though the entrance is fine... they are the guests of honor, as the most recent acquisitions to my family and all," she said having a quick spin around. "Did I do alright?" she questioned of her own dress.

"And who wants an outfit change?" she asked of her own peerage. It would be a simple matter to change any persons clothes using magic, especially the ones on bodies she knew so well. "Me," stated the ever calm Youmu. "Me too," mentioned Maiko. It would be Miyuki who hadn't seen such a display to become confused. "You can do that for all of us, Eira-nee?" she asked, which just made the redhead smile. "Hai hai, I got one in mind for you..." she said, turning to Miyuki first and changing her outfit into a solid white kimono decorated by snowflakes. "Sugoi!~ Mi-yu-ki~ Kawaii!~" she chimed. The other two would also have magic cirlces appear around them as well, shifting Maiko into a dark grey sweater dress which had a deep plunging neckline and dark knee high boots. Which Maiko looked over before giving the thumbs up. While Youmu's outfit became a slight bit more casual in nature, and suited to her frame with thinner pants and boots all seemingly decorated with swirling ghosts. Her long sword strapped to her back and the other around her waist. A long green overcoat seemed to complete this look and the ribbon on her hair matched the little one around her neck. "Eir... I might prefer this in general," she said, thinking it over. "Keep it then~ I think it's adorable on you~" she said. With that she waited to see if the men in her life wanted changes in attire as well, rather the ones who couldn't provide it for themselves.

[Bloodedge]

'Yare yare,' Takumi thought. It seemed this was something he wouldn't be able to escape, with even Eira believing it to be a solid enough idea. He supposed, in all fairness, it wasn't an act he minded at all. Only the potential aftermath was even bothersome at all, but it was bothersome enough to Takumi that he'd have rather avoided the situation altogether. Regardless, he was involved so long as Eira wished him to be. Speaking of Eira, the Gremory Clan Heiress followed her elder brother's action of magically altering her attire in a way Takumi couldn't really fathom, and most certainly could not speak ill of when seeing the results. Seeing the young Devil in such a state reminded Takumi of how he felt viewing her on the day he'd become a Devil himself. His eyes were alight, his mouth was agape, but not a single sound was made. The other ladies in the group had also become quite the sight to behold, and yet there was something starkly different about how Eira managed to sport what was almost a wedding dress.

While Takumi was busy keeping his thoughts within his own head, Sirtreize addressed Eira on behalf of the other males in the peerage. "If I may, I think I do remember the preferences here..." he said, taking it upon himself to conjure magic circles around Izuna and Hiroki. Izuna's attire became that of a tuxedo, primarily white with seafoam underlying to draw attention to the color of his eyes. Hiroki, in contrast to Izuna's outfit, would be sporting a much darker suit the likes of an old Englishman, complete with his usual ascot. Both individuals seemed to approve of this, as these had been the suits chosen by them during previous, less-public events shared with Sirtreize. Izuna especially was very keen on finally being visible with this tuxedo of his. The only male in Eira's peerage that would not be touched by Sirtreize's alterations would be Takumi. Sirtreize seemed to think that was something best taken care of by Eira herself. "I would be remiss to think myself capable of touching the Red Dragon Emperor's ensemble. You can handle that one~"

[Apollymi]

Eira didn't seem to get much of reaction about her choice in attire, but at the very least, Takumi seemed properly speechless for a bit so she supposed she was doing well enough. While having a moment or two of thought to herself, Eira managed to look at Takumi for quite a few uninterrupted seconds. Mostly, she was trying to think of how she'd like to see him dressed. Knowing that he like Miyuki didn't have an established look as the rest of her peerage did. She was pleased with the look she'd managed for Miyuki but that was easy, in watching Takumi she found herself wondering all kinds of things about him. Soon enough, the other males of her peerage were dressed, courtesy of Sirtreize, but for some reason, he didn't wish to mess with the attire of Takumi. A smirk came to Eira's face as she finally settled on a look she'd like for him, but she took a moment first to appreciate the other males of her peerage. "Kawaii!!~ Arigatou Nii-sama~ Looking great, all of you~" she chimed, before looking to her brother. "It's fine... I think... I know a good look~" she said of Takumi.

She took a few steps towards him and grinned. "Just work with me here~ And if you don't like it, I'll make some adjustments..." she said, before she cast a magic circle around him as well. Doing so would redress Takumi in a jet black pin-stripe double-breasted, three piece suit. The shirt underneath would be the darkest of solid blacks and the tie would include a stripped pattern black background with white wild looking stripes. The suit itself had double the buttons of a suit of the standard variation and five buttons up each wrist instead of cuff-links. The overall look would be considered modern and stunning, and was finished off with some wing tipped dress shoes, all perfectly fit to Takumi's build. After she was done with this she stood back appraising her work. She was more than justly satsified by the look this young man had right now. "Ufufufufu~" she giggled deviously appreciating her own work. "What do you think?" she asked of the group at large, Takumi included as he was the one who'd have to wear this particular getup for the rest of the day.

[Bloodedge]

It was good that Eira had a look in mind from the young Dragon Emperor, because Sirtreize had no intention whatsoever of dressing the lad. Takumi didn't care one way or another how he looked, and typically went for the plainest appearance possible. Such was how he avoided as many encounters with women as he possibly could, whether it seemed to actually help or not. Eira stepped toward Takumi whilst mentioning that she would be applying new clothes to him via magic. She went on to do exactly that, granting him what had to be the most outrageously magnificent garbs he'd worn his entire life. Even with his preference for not wearing something with this level of appeal, he couldn't really claim to dislike this at all. "It's... it's the best thing I've ever worn. Arigatou. I'll wear it," he said with a small smile forming on his face. Perhaps, at the end of the day, it could be possible that he would not encounter the same problems in the Underworld that he suffered from in the human world. Before he was allowed any level of movement, though, Sirtreize interrupted.

"Actually... not yet. This needs some flair," the Satan spoke, applying a magic circle only to Takumi's head. This use of magic turned the boy's messy hair into a spikier style, adding what Sirtreize thought to be a more accurate representation of a wilder, only slightly disheveled Dragon. Only then did Izuna speak on the lad's appearance. "I was a little skeptical about that first look, but now it comes together! Spikes make the man, dude!" he said. Hiroki, on the other hand, had something else to add. "I'm not so sure about that. Great work on the suit, but I don't see why the hairdo is needed. That's just me, though."

[Apollymi]

Eira dressed Takumi, and was seemingly satisfied with the effect of the clothing alone. Now that she thought about it, when she normally saw Takumi it was in uniform, and bar their first meeting, she didn't see him outside of his clothes either, so it was an all together different effect. Beyond this, Takumi himself seemed to enjoy his new clothing, and his voicing of this opinion came with a compliment as well as the assertion that he'd wear these clothes without argument. Eira's eyes widened for a second as she heard this, she didn't know how she expected him to react, but she was deeply pleased. "Hai~ I'm glad you like it, Takumi~" she mused. Though she'd been satisfied with her choices in his clothing, she did feel something was just a slight bit off, but soon enough her elder brother came to the rescue with a wilder and more attention grabbing hairstyle for the Red Dragon Emperor. A grin spread across her face after this was done, and the opinions of the others seemed to be filling in about the same. "SUGOI!!~ Nii-sama with the clutch tie-in~" she mused finding Takumi's appearance to now be perfect. It seemed that Izuna agreed and the other ladies soon had bits to add as well.

"Yo, Yasakawa cleans up nice~" said Maiko who seemed to find this to be an appropriate upgrade to the normally plain boy. "I agree, nice job, Eir... Nii-sama..." mentioned Youmu as she appreciated the look now sported by Takumi as well. "Awesome!~ The hair ties together the look, Taku-senpai looks cool!~" she mentioned happily. With general approval across the board, Eira could easily say they were now ready to descend. Thinking this way, made Eira wonder who all would be in attendance, but she supposed that would just be part of the surprise.

[Bloodedge]

"There. Now that's a Red Dragon Emperor," Sirtreize said. As far as he was concerned, this was what a holder of Boosted Gear was meant to look like, instead of the blander appearance he first got to witness. Now that Takumi had been accepted by the general public by way of appearance, he looked between the lad and Miyuki, then to Eira. "Perfect! A little bit of classic on one side, and a little bit of new on the other side. Time to go!"

Sirtreize had given the go-ahead, leaving Takumi to hesitantly step forward with intentions of taking Eira's side. As soon as he started moving, though, Izuna interjected. One swift movement through the air snatched the Pawn of the peerage up in a heartbeat. The end result of this would be Takumi placed between Eira and Miyuki, an arm draped over the shoulder of each, with each hand upon either party's bosom. Takumi was taken over by shock. Izuna was pleased by his own efforts after taking a second to appreciate it, and Sirtreize didn't seem to have any negative commentary. "Well, I expected something less risque, but that also works if you're going for the harem appeal."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Eira and Miyuki would be in for a critique of the group as a whole, of course, nothing negative could be said about the overall look presented. It was quite true that Eira had chosen something of a classic look for Miyuki, but she also knew the small girl enjoyed such a look, given her own choices, beyond this, being such a small girl gave her a bit more appeal as far as the look was concerned. Eira's own look for this even, was spawned purely out of spite for what it was originally for, that being said she also enjoyed wearing white and looking well put together as such a look implied. Soon enough shock would be settling again as Izuna set about a bit of instigation. Such an instigation would lead to Takumi having a hand draped over each girl's bosom and Sirtreize saying it had something like a harem appeal. Eira herself didn't seem to mind this much, but she never seemed to mind physical contact of any sort, for whatever reason. Most would find this strange considering the woman's status as a virgin. She sighed and found herself teasing Takumi. "Remember to breathe, Takumi... also we should just go. I've seen this get way out of hand over time," she said. "Nii-sama starts talking about harems and people's clothes start disappearing," this made Miyuki's eyes widen and a small blush appear across her face, in that unusual blue, color. But Eira decided that she liked this particular look. "It was a joke~" she chimed which made Miyuki relax as well, though the blush remained.


"Alright then~ We're going, out and to the left, Takumi~" Eira said, knowing it would be him leading them down the stairs in triplicate formation. Into this party which would be exactly as Eira intended to enter. With no problems from anyone else, this could move on effortlessly.

[Bloodedge]

Of all the things that could have been said to him, Takumi was told by Eira that he should remember to breathe. This was an interesting thing to hear, as he had indeed stopped breathing for a few moments. Immediately after he was reminded of his breathing, Eira said they should head out right away. She also mentioned a tendency of Sirtreize's to cause others' clothes to vanish after bringing up harems and the like. Eira may have told Miyuki it was a joke, but Sirtreize himself had other things to say. "It wasn't much of a joke. That does happen, but I won't bother with that sort of thing now. This still doesn't work. We can't have the Red Dragon Emperor afraid of where his own hands are going. Stop being like that for now," he said, looking directly into Takumi's eyes as he spoke. This seemed to put the boy in some sort of trance before his hands briefly squeezed the chest of Eira and Miyuki. His eyes turned red for only a moment, sparking curiosity in Sirtreize. That didn't much matter, though. Takumi suddenly seemed ready to move on. "Hai hai. Let's go." Eira giving the route they would travel gave him all the knowledge he needed to begin walking with a level of confidence and lack of concern that was entirely new to him. Izuna, with a huff, traveled behind the trio, who was joined by Sirtreize to the right. Hiroki sighed to the antics of everyone in unison, but eventually fell into his proper place in line.

[Apollymi]

Sirtreize's words made Eira scoff, his next action made the young woman chuckle as she rolled her eyes. Before a widening of her eyes in surprise as her chest was grabbed by the normally subdued Takumi. "Some of us like to set people at ease. You know, without hypnotizing them," she said, hearing the gasp of surprise from Miyuki and the girl's renewed blush she could only chuckle. Miyuki herself said nothing because in the aftermath Takumi seemed to relax a bit which was good for all of them. "You should also remember to breathe, Mi-yu-ki~" Eira teased when they began to walk. Miyuki herself was very confused, having only ever dealt directly with the people in their peerage. "Is your whole family like this, Eira-nee?" she asked as a point of genuine curiosity, to prepare herself for what she should expect. "Yeah, but... it's all in good fun~ No worries, I'll look after you. Just remember to have fun," she said offering a reassuring wink to the young girl who seemed to walk with renewed confidence as such. Soon enough this entourage of a well dressed peerage plus one in Sirtreize reached the stairs and began their descent into what could only be described as a formal party like ball with a who's who of the underworld present. Crimson colored drapes, white table cloths, people serving serving food, even a giant dessert table featuring at its center a six teir wedding cake. Eira's eyes widened as she saw this, because the faces she recognized were many but there were also several she'd only known about in passing. Still, she couldn't let her own shock by the presence of so many people discourage her own peerage. As such she and Miyuki by association moved with grace on Takumi's arm right up until they made their full descent down the stairs, with a great number of famous and infamous eyes on them.

[Bloodedge]

"You heard the lady, Miyu-chan. Just relax. Lean on me if it makes you feel better," Takumi stated in a manner more casual than he would have normally been capable of. Not missing a step, he moved onward until they were upon the party-goers at the base of the main staircase. It was then that Sirtreize took the forefront of the entourage and cleared his throat to draw attention to himself. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Underworld! If I might have your attention for a few moments, I would like to officially introduce you all to our guests of honor for the evening: The illustrious Eira Gremory, and her nearly complete peerage. This darling sister of mine has bested all odds, and defeated Onoko of the Astaroth Clan in a Rating Game rigged in his advantage. She is finally ready to be considered a participant in the Official Rating Games in the amateur bracket! Her peerage may be one member shy of an entire set, but don't underestimate her because of that. In addition to boasting a peerage filled with reputable members, she has now come into possession of... the Red Dragon Emperor himself: Yasukawa Takumi! In case you're wondering, he would be the young man with his hands all over the other two ladies involved in this Rating Game, including Eira," he said, flashing a bright smile while cutting his eyes in the direction of Eira and her members.

Among the party-goers were, of course, the members of Sirtreize's own peerage. Only one of the members of this peerage was male, and he was one to step forward. He had shoulder-length slick black hair, and he currently wore a navy suit with a sky blue shirt and vest, and a white and blue ascot tucked into his collar. He greeted Eira with a nod instead of words, speaking instead to Sirtreize. "I'm assuming it was your bright idea to bring a wedding cake even though she won that game? I've been spending all this time assuming you were going to do something crazy, like suggest I pretend to be the next suitor so the Gremory could claim Astaroth's territory," he said, prompting a laugh from Sirtreize. "Well, see... I already had the cake. I had this grand idea that if Eira lost, I was going to kill Onoko right before the you may now kiss the bride part. Then she would have been a widow, and would have had two whole clans!" The raven-haired male scoffed, seeming to have little or no care about the situation as a whole, but having additional words to share with Eira. "Congratulations on your victory, Eira Gremory... And on having the Red Dragon fall under your supervision."

[Apollymi]

Takumi's words to Miyuki made the young girl's eyes widen and though she was confident, she soon found herself leaning on the young man, as she was only confident in things she understood, and devil parties weren't really high on that scale. Eira took note of this and smiled, she was happy the members of her peerage, especially the two newest ones were getting along so well, it would make everything much easier in the long run. Still there was the matter, of her brother's announcement about this peerage, all of which made, the crimson haired heiress quite a bit embarrassed. In fact the faintest of flushes appeared on her face as she fought over the desire to turn her head from all the attention. "Nii-sama, you say too much..." she said managing to look just a bit pouty.

As Eira managed to pout a certain individual made his way up to the group, as the other two female members of her peerage had their eyes widen in recognition. A gentle nod came from this man as he chose to speak to her brother in this moment. "I hope that cake is strawberry..." was all Eira had to say at the mention of the wedding cake. After all, even a fake wedding deserved a good cake. The only male member of Sirtreize's peerage, seemed to have some wild idea about the sort of thing that the Crimson Satan would do to get the Astaroth Territory as well as keep his sister from having to marry, his younger brother. Soon enough words of congratulations came to the young woman from this man and it made her smile and nod. "Thank you, Serde-nii~ I wouldn't have minded pretending to get married to you~" she offered in her general teasing manner. This caused some light confusion in Miyuki, who was still leaning against Takumi. "Eira-nee..." she started. "Oh, right... this is Serde Astaroth, he's Nii-sama's Knight, and an awesome guy~ He was really nice when I was building my peerage before I got Youmu. Ryuume Miyuki is my second Bishop, I got her a while ago, but I haven't been back for a while, sorry for the late introduction~" she said of the only male belonging in the peerage of her elder brother. "Sugoi..." would be the response of Miyuki who'd never met this man before but instantly understood the connection to the would be man who'd upset Eira in the past few days.

[Bloodedge]

"You flatter me," said the man named Serde Astaroth, as he performed a light bow with his right hand over his chest. Takumi, on the other hand, raised a brow when Eira spoke to this man. Izuna laughed from behind the group. "Aaand Ryuu-chan takes the lead again! What a steal for lolli-boobs!" he said with a cheeky grin. Regardless of these words, Serde continued his interaction by speaking with Miyuki and Takumi. "It is my understanding that you two were the ones involved in that farce of a Rating Game. Allow me to apologize for any trouble that halfwit brother of mine caused the three of you. I'd have killed him myself if allowed. It's nice meeting you, Ryuume Miyuki, Yasukawa Takumi," he said with another bow meant for both parties.

"Hai. Yoroshiku," said Takumi, who still wore the same grin. Serde saw the expression on the boy's face, taking note of one thing as he left and walked past Sirtreize. "Your hypnotism is obvious. Did you really need to take it far enough for him to do that?" he asked regarding the position still held by Takumi's hands. With a laugh, Sirtreize replied quickly. "That part wasn't me; it was Izuna-kun."

"... Sure."

[Apollymi]

A grin crossed Eira's face as Serde finished speaking to her, accusing her of flattery. "Hardly~" Eira mentioned. True to her own words, it would be pretty common knowledge that Serde was the type of man that Eira herself enjoyed looking at, the agree-ability of his personality not withstanding, she really wouldn't have been as upset about being in the man's company. Moving right along it seemed Izuna was content to annoy Eira in the way he'd been doing since Takumi's acquisition, her left eye twitched ever so slightly. "Izuna, you're going to give everyone complexes if you keep saying stuff like that..." she mentioned, knowing it would do nothing to detour the lad from his activity of choice. After this Serde, went so far as to apologize to the other members of her peerage for the apparent actions of his younger brother and even offered a bow to them both. Miyuki's eyes widened as she didn't expect this sort of kindness for any reason outside of the peerage she'd been part of. "A-a-arigatou gozaimasu, Yoroshiku." she finally managed that same blue tint to her face. As for the matter being discussed by her brother and his Knight, Eira strangely enough corroborated the Crimson Satan's story. "He's right, my devious little fox boy did this. He's been doing stuff like this a lot lately~ I don't think he can help his teasing," she said seemingly fine with all of this in spite of the fact that she was currently one of the objects of that young man's actions. "She's right, Izu-senpai's a meanie," Miyuki affirmed seeming to have gathered herself enough to look back at Izuna and stick her tongue out at him for his wayward commentary.

Beyond this little greeting another one was coming, a woman dressed in dark blue dress with a little cleavage showing made her approach, choosing to stand beside Sirtreize with wide eyes. "Did I hear you right, did you say your little sister claimed a Heavenly Dragon? And won one of your horrible odds games?" she asked with a grin spreading across her face. Eira managed to look stunned as she never expected to see this woman, up close. "That's impressive, Congratulations you three~" she said as she pushed her french braid over her shoulder with a wild mess of raven locks atop it as if she was amused.

[Bloodedge]

"Don't blame Izu-senpai. He's just trying to push everyone out of their shell," Takumi stated to those who were chastising Izuna's actions. Izuna himself felt strangely about this rebuttal, but it was Sirtreize who spoke on this behavior from Takumi. "... Yeah, maybe I did go a bit far on this one." No matter the potential issues of Sirtreize hypnotizing Takumi, the young Pawn himself seemed at ease... though likely due to being hypnotized.

The next person to approach was none other than one of the four Satans, Elsa Leviathan herself. Her first words were also for the Satan Lucifer. "El~! I'm glad you could make it, and without sparing a moment of preparation time. How long does it take you to leave home looking so great? Three weeks?" he asked, offering a form of greeting quite commonly employed for this Devil's sake. "And of course she did! What other Devil would end up with one of the Heavenly Dragons in her peerage, if not for my darling sister? As for the win, I called it ages ago. I bet you're happy you didn't take that bet. Szavelneas owes me big time now!"

In response to another congratulatory message, Takumi lifted a brow. There was a certain regal air about this woman that he could not go without noticing, so he found himself giving her a once-over glance while wondering what made her differ from others he'd been gazing at thus far. Either way, he met her speech with a confident smile. "Arigatou gozaimasu," he said. At this point, Sirtreize stepped up to Elsa's side to offer the woman's introduction. "Forgive my manners. Eira and company, allow me to introduce the lady Elsa Leviathan. Isn't she marvelous?"

[Apollymi]

"I think I should award points for camaraderie, but... you definitely over did it, Nii-sama~" she said of the defense of Izuna's antics. "Though, I don't think he would have relaxed this much otherwise... so I'll call it fair for now," mentioned Eira. Of course, she could have simply hypnotized the lad herself, but she didn't like altering the moods of her peerage if she could avoid it. Especially for the newer members who didn't know it was one of her included skills.

Soon after this the group was greeted by another person. Her brother soon laid on charm in a rather interesting manner, and the raven haired woman could only chuckle in reply. "Kufufufu~ You say that every time, and it still doesn't manage to get old," said the woman apparently called 'El' by people close to her. Moving right along, it seemed Sirtreize was content to gush over his younger sister, much to the expected from the man. "I thought you were just like this about your sister when she wasn't around... but no... this is just you," she said which made Eira groan audibly. She could only imagine her brother embarrassingly gushing about her accomplishments all over the place. "I didn't take the bet, because you were way too excited about it. I don't trust your enthusiasm, even when I think it's blinded by your affection for your little sister. I feel bad for Szavel, though, owing favors to the Crimson Satan is a bad look~" she said with a casual eye roll.

Soon enough she was being formally introduced to the younger sister of previously mentioned Crimson Satan and her peerage, the male of this group, took his congratulatory statement at face value. The crimson haired young woman gave a gentle bow as well. "Arigatou gozaimasu, and Nii-sama is right, you're quite marvelous. It's great to meet you," Eira mentioned. She'd been about to explain the nature of this woman but it would be Miyuki who was excited. "Sugoi, she's the Satan Leviathan, she uses Ice-Magic and she's the strongest female devil! It it it..." a smile came to Eira's face, as the young girl began to stutter in her excitement. "Deep breath..." she said casually which made the girl blush and inhale. "It's great to meet you!~" Miyuki finally finished, which made a grin came to Eira's face. Elsa for her part looked amused, finding this small girl to be funny. "Oh? You must use it too~ I gotta say, I respect the decision to keep a cold hand on the peerage~" mentioned the woman. She found this entire moment entertaining nonetheless and could at least see at face value the reason this man was so engrossed in his younger sister's development. She had interesting taste.

[Bloodedge]

"Don't worry, El. I say just as much about you when we're apart as well," he said to compare the other Satan to how he spoke of his sister. Leaning toward the black-haired Devil, he spoke more, even winking as the words left his mouth. "I even dream of you, if it makes you feel better. We could relive some of those if you like."

Takumi remained curious as to who this woman was, but soon enough, it was surprisingly Miyuki who went about explaining her identity. Since the girl seemed to be freaking out, Takumi finally removed his hand from her bosom and placed it upon her head instead, without bothering to change the fact that he still had an arm wrapped around the lass. "Another Satan? Sugoi," he said, only to be interrupted by Izuna before additional words could leave his mouth. "Satan Leviathan, and one of only two Devils ever strong enough to be named a Super Devil. She's out of your league, kid; stick to the ones that are still in reach~" he teased. In response to this, though, Takumi only wondered what thing. "Super Devil?"

[Apollymi]

"Oh? Well that is surprising... I would wonder what you say, but given the sort of things you do I can only imagine what you dream about~" El said, seeming to fall right into this flirtatious little trap. Still, Eira was pleased enough that this conversation didn't concern her that she let her guard down and happily got to gaze upon her peerage members helping each other out. It would seem, Izuna was still on hand for useful information as he came up with the term Super Devil, but this just seemed to make Takumi more confused as he didn't know things like that existed. "Hai, Elsa Leviathan is known as the strongest female devil and an Ultimate-Class devil beyond what is standard for those, known as a Super Devil. A title she shares with Nii-sama. They are apparently really scary people~" she mentioned, though she had no fear of her own brother in most cases, she could at least understand how they got their reputations. This generation of Devils was apparently much stronger than the previous for whatever reason. She explained this, just as another raven haired woman made her way to this little gathering place. She had eyes which were glowing golden and she was wearing a deep red dress with a keyhole opening in the back of it.

"You could just invite her over to the house if you're going to do this. I've been waiting and I want to meet the new additions," said a woman who seemed to lack patience among other things. A grin came to Eira's face in this moment as it seemed they were in for yet another visitor to their little circle. "Gomennasai, Cin-nee... I didn't mean to keep them from you. Revil here? I haven't seen him in ages..." mentioned Eira.

[Bloodedge]

"I could easily show and tell later, if that... tickles your fancy." Sirtreize continued his banter with the Satan Leviathan as if others weren't even present. Of course, since Eira's peerage was busy talking amongst themselves about Elsa, he did not feel strangely at all about this. One could even say he would not have felt strangely regardless of the goings-on outside of his own doings. "You know, there's always..." Whatever Sirtreize intended to say to the other Satan, would not be said at all. This was due to the appearance of another black-haired woman, who happened to be very closely related to Sirtreize. Her first words would be to the man himself, as seemed to be the pattern at the party thus far. "Cin? I figured you would still be upstairs," he said while erecting his posture, raising his right hand to its respective hip. "I wouldn't dare go back home during such a major event. After the festivities, though..." With that said, Sirtreize hazarded another glance in the direction of Elsa, followed by an equally suggestive one toward the woman dubbed "Cin" by Eira and himself.

[Apollymi]

"Really now? Sirtreize, you're a treat really..." she started and also lost whatever she was going to say was lost upon the entrance of the new woman. Such a look and bit of speech made the eyes of Elsa widen just a tad as she was joined by another dark haired woman. The woman now doubly addressed as Cin seemed to be fine with this on both fronts, the suggestive look passed from this man to the newest coming raven haired woman would be noticed and answered in a most direct way. "I already said invite her over, you don't have to ask me twice," said the woman much to the surprise of Elsa who seemed stunned given she realized what was going on. "Wow, you two really are different, but whatever I'll stop by some time later..." she said taking it as her cue to disappear for a bit to avoid a potentially embarrassing conversation on her part.

"Yare yare, Cin-nee, I think you just embarrassed a Super Devil~" chimed Eira who seemed to find this whole thing amusing regardless of the fact. "Sairevil is around here somewhere, I sent him down a few minutes before I came down, and it isn't as if it's the first time I've embarrassed a Super Devil..." mentioned this woman with those glowing golden eyes. Miyuki seemed stunned by what she'd just witnessed, though Eira had previously said her entire family was just as bad as Sirtreize she hadn't expected to see it literally. In this moment, Eira would make proper introductions. "Gomen, I forgot about the introduction for a second. This is Ryuume Miyuki she's the Bishop we picked up over winter break. And this is Yasukawa Takumi, he's my pawn, the Red Dragon Emperor and about three days in on his Devil life, so take it easy on him yeah?" she said thinking about it more before deciding how to introduce this woman. "This is Cinder Fall, she's... the Genius Magician, and my brother's Queen, and his wife." she added at the end causing the eyes of Miyuki to widen greatly. Cinder Fall to her credit found herself looking over both Miyuki and Takumi and could obviously see her husband's influence on this young man, as he still had a hand resting upon Eira's bosom. She could also see her sister-in-law was no less open than the rest of their family considering that she didn't seem to have the slightest worry about this. "Did she just say, she took a three day old Devil into a Rating Game with horrible odds?" she asked her husband for clarification, because she was almost certain that was among the craziest thing she'd ever heard.

[Bloodedge]

"Of course, of course." True enough, Sirtreize could expect his wife to react in such a way after so many years, but what was apparently new to him, was the following reaction of Elsa. The Satan woman claimed she would be stopping by their home some time later, and though she made her exit thereafter, he gathered that she wasn't leading him astray. "Hai. See you later, El," he said as his free left arm found its place around the waist of Cinder. As the woman spoke of embarrassing a Super Devil in the past, Sirtreize sighed before chiming his agreement. "She's right; Her stories are torture," he claimed.

Moving on, Eira took care of the introductions between her new servants and Cinder. From all she said, Cinder seemed to pay special attention to the idea that she had taken such a young Devil into a Rating Game with virtually impossible odds. "Sort of. Really, she said she took a three day-old Red Dragon Emperor into a Rating Game with horrible odds. I think it's that part that makes this a little more reasonable, don't you? Check this out: I watched the fight, and our Dragon friend here actually made a few major contributions to the match. He was a great follow up to the equally-useful Miyuki-chan here. Also, you're one to talk when you and I were in a Rating Game the day you became a Devil."

[Apollymi]

A grin spread across Eira's face. "You'll have to tell an embarrassing story sometime, Cin-nee, and make up for Nii-sama embarrassing me all day..." Eira mentioned, pouting slightly, given the amount of torment her brother had managed to lay down between his moments of helpfulness she wondered if it would even make much of a difference.

Sirtreize went on to explain that his younger sister had taken a three day old Dragon Emperor into a Rating Game with horrible odds, and claimed to have watched the entire match and seen the contributions of both Miyuki and Takumi and found them both to be good and overly helpful. Such praise, even indirectly made Miyuki blush and Eira smile, as she was quite proud of her young peerage and the things they managed to pull off in their recent victory. "Well, that doesn't really compare. Yes, I was a brand new Devil at the time, but we already had a pact, and... I already knew what I was doing..." she said. Thinking it over a bit more she continued. "Still, he pulled it off in impossible odds, so, I can do nothing but offer my congratulations to you both for what you've managed here," finished the raven haired young woman. "Welcome both of you, I hope you enjoy being part of our family and take good care of Eira here~ I hope she's not as much of a handful as he is..." she said cutting her eyes towards her husband. This also made Eira have an exasperated sigh, as far as she was concerned she wasn't much like her brother at all. It seemed that something about the family Gremory was quite strange but regardless, Miyuki was determined to do her part. "Hai, I'll do my best. And Eira-nee isn't a handful at all, she's so nice..." Miyuki managed to say. Eira's eyes widened just a bit considering what this young woman always had to say about her. "Ara? Nii-sama you watched the whole fight how?" she asked, remembering that entire fight and wondering how much of it the Crimson Satan had witnessed.

[Bloodedge]

Sirtreize was taken aback by Eira's request of Cinder. This showed rather obviously on his visage, and if that wasn't enough, he commented as well. "Oi! That was from a place of love, not spite! You're just being vengeful," he said in a faux huff. The next words to leave his mouth were once again for his wife, who thought the difference between herself and the new Devil before them was something to take note of. "You knew what you were doing, and he's a Dragon. That sounds about the same to me."

Takumi chuckled in response to Cinder's hopes. He couldn't know what to expect as far as Sirtreize being a handful to deal with, but he could at least make a few assumptions based on what he'd seen today. "Iie. She's been great; I'm looking forward to being around here," he said of the woman whose breast remained in his grasp. Eira also had words for her brother again, related to his ability to view the entire Rating Game. Sirtreize managed to seem surprised by this query. "What do you mean how? I was there the whole time; I even said hello on my way out, before that Fallen Angel interrupted."

[Apollymi]

It seemed Sirtreize saw some great difference in the reason between Eira wanting to hear embarrassing stories about him, and why he'd been embarrassing her the entire day. "Vengeful~ 'Even help from Satan can't stop your fury'..." she said looking to her brother with narrow eyes. "You said these words... you wanted this..." she said, though it was still just teasing, she wasn't really upset she just didn't like being embarrassed so easily, and it seemed to be something her brother did without even trying. A smirk came from Cinder in this moment as she appreciated the words applied to his little sister. "Oh? Did something awesome then? Got mad and showed off. Out with it then... what did she do?" asked Cinder Fall, seeming to know that Eira probably wouldn't say anything herself.

Soon after though, her own peerage seemed to do an even better job uplifting her. As both of the participants of her recent Rating Game, seemed to take their welcome from Sirtreize's wife, as well mentioning that both enjoyed Eira and that she wasn't so much a problem as her elder brother was. "Minna..." now she was embarrassed for completely different reasons. "Such an honest girl, even now..." Cinder commented, before her husband mentioned to his sister that he'd greeted her before a Fallen Angel had showed up. Eira spent several moments trying to think of such an interaction, but the only thing she could remember from that point, was a small black cat rubbing against her legs. "The only thing that happened then was a black cat rubbing against, me... you can turn yourself into a cat? Why didn't I know you could do that... can I do that?" she asked incredulously. If this was the case then her brother had seen far too much, and it was likely the young girl would die from embarrassment at some point this day, as if knowing this Cinder added a bit more to her earlier sentiment of a story. "Also I've got you. I'll think of something good to tell you~" she said promising a story to embarrass the Crimson Satan.

[Bloodedge]

Sirtreize couldn't really argue with words from his own mouth, yet some part of him felt those words were being twisted in some way. He supposed in the end, Eira would at some point be told a story from his past that he would never personally mention, but for now, he would take an opportunity to tell Cinder another story about Eira. "Of course! Eira here went and used the Power of Destruction on poor little Onoko. The way she used it, she damn near killed him before he could be retired. I weakened the blast though; I had to make my deal with the boy first." True enough, the only reason Sirtreize intervened was to strike a deal for Astaroth's territory in an underhanded way, and he had to seize the opportunity once he was certain Eira would win the battle. Otherwise, he would have easily left her to obliterate the other young Devil, and he would have been the first to congratulate her as well.

It seemed Eira herself remained more interested in how Sirtreize was present during the Rating Game, going on to confirm that he took the form of a cat, and even asking if it was a power she also possessed. "There are plenty of things you don't know I can do, and you'll never find out about most of them. But yes, I can do that. As for your ability... well, much like everything else, isn't that up to you?"

[Apollymi]

Eira definitely took notice of the fact that her brother couldn't argue against points he'd made himself. Even so, it seemed that he was not yet done, regaling in Eira's victory. He went on to explain to Cinder Fall, how the young heiress had managed to best an opponent stronger than her, and to Cinder's credit she managed to look surprised. Those glowing eyes of hers shifted as she looked at Eira after receiving the news that she'd used the Power of Destruction in a way that had nearly killed someone faster than the retiring system would have registered the potential death. "Hm, Eira... I didn't know your tantrums had become so dangerous..." she said in a tone most teasing. "I wasn't throwing a tantrum," Eira mentioned, though she had a few days prior. She felt no need to mention this, and instead managed to rub a gloved hand over her face. "Oh, don't be like that, I'm really impressed, I didn't know you'd been working on anything like that..." she said. Eira simply sighed before explaining what she actually thought had happened. "I haven't really... I don't have that much control, so I just thought to use something he couldn't run from," she said thinking about it completely logically. Though she was decently gifted with her use of the Power of Destruction, there were others more talented than her, including her brother. This response made Cinder's brow raise questioningly, "Uh-huh, so he did piss you off," Cinder's hands rose in mock defeat, as the look in Eira's eyes told her all she needed to know. There were few things which caused truly violent rages from Eira, but from knowing this young woman for a long enough time, she knew exactly the sort of thing which would have made her rage so dangerous.

Eira managed to no longer be properly annoyed, and as her eyes left Cinder they moved to Sirtreize who went on to explain that he had many things on his list of skills that she'd never know about, but admitted to the ability of transforming himself into a cat. "Simple questions need simple answers, arigatou gozaimasu..." she said, in response to something that sounded dangerously close to an overshare, though she was quite used to that sort of thing from her brother. Eira couldn't imagine the kind of animal form she could take, but knowing there was potential for it, gave her the light desire to try it. She wouldn't admit to this though, as she didn't really like simply doing the same kinds of things her brother had already managed to do.

[Bloodedge]

"It was a tantrum," Sirtreize interjected. As one who had seen the entire event unfold, he could easily draw the assumption that Eira remained furious from her first interaction with Onoko, and carried that fury through the Rating Game. That was all fine and dandy, but there were currently more imperative things than poking at Eira's tantrums. In fact, time was now running a bit short before the main event that lay behind the pretense of this party. "So, Eira... I hope you and your members have some leftover energy. This might still be a party in your honor, but the main attraction is your first scrimmage match as a participant in the Official Rating Games. I just assumed that would be fine with you, so I set things up ahead of time. Everyone here is waiting to see the match."

[Apollymi]

Eira found her left eye twitching as her brother mentioned her fight with Onoko had indeed been a tantrum. The crimson haired lass hadn't thought of it that way at all. The fact that Onoko's words at their first meeting had managed to make her mad, and seeing him again had rekindled that in addition to his ill prepared speech about her Peerage likely made that appear like a tantrum. "Was not..." she finished seeming not to care much about it. Sirtreize soon went on to explain that the real reason for the all the extra people at this gathering was that he'd planned a scrimmage for the them. "Of course you'd do something like that," Eira managed to say. This was exactly why she couldn't just enjoy the idea of this being a party. "Have a Rating Game with bad odds, and a horrible stipulation. And also in the same day, have a scrimmage, totally fair..." there was a roll of Eira's eyes. She expected something like this from her brother, but somehow finding out about it, only made it worse. Still, she had to be resigned to it, because obviously people here were expecting to see this thing, as annoying as she personally found it, it wouldn't change the fact that it was happening. "Not even arguing, against who?" The other females of her Peerage perked up, at least two had not been able to fight earlier when they wanted to, and the other felt she also had something to prove and could aim to do a bit better.

[Bloodedge]

Though he knew Eira would be far from the biggest fan of this Rating Game idea, Sirtreize figured she would accept in the end. "Atta girl," he said to the knowledge that she, against her own inner desires, agreed to the Rating Game. Eira went on to question her opponent for this match, while certain members of her peerage - Izuna especially - were taken in by excitement. Instead of answering the lass' question, Sirtreize smiled and raised his right hand. A single click of his fingers was all he needed to do, to have the entirety of the party transported into a special area within the Dimensional Gap reserved for Rating Games. Eira and her peerage would appear in their own reserved seating space connected to a massive stadium, while the opposite area housed Sirtreize, Cinder... and the rest of Sirtreize's peerage. All the other party-goers were placed in the observers' stands, bar two Satans who'd function as announcers/officiators of the match. Of these two Satans was one previously mentioned Szavelneas: The pink-haired, glasses-wearing Satan Beelzebub. Cameras and monitors linked visuals between Eira's room, Sirtreize's room, the crowd, and the announcers' table. The pink-haired male named Szavelneas was the first to speak over a crowd that had already begun cheering for the upcoming battles.

"Welcome, one and all! We've all been patiently waiting for the start of the match, and here we are! Sirtreize Lucifer and his members in their first Rating Game in ages, against Eira Gremory in a scrimmage to celebrate her ability to enter true Rating Games! Today, we introduce Gremory-chan to the Dice Figure Game we all know and love, after a farce of a game she had to get here. Bear with us for an additional moment while my partner here explains the rules of this game."

[Apollymi]

Soon enough the entirety of Eira's peerage was transported into their accomodations for the duration of this new rating game. The crowd, stands, and even the announcers for this game were all well beyond what could ever be considered normal. 'Of course, I can't just have a single normal day... anytime I'm here...' she thought further giving away exactly why she wasn't bothered by the idea of not visiting for an extended period of time. Regardless of how Eira felt about this, it was obvious several of her peerage members were excited. Even more excited as one Satan Beelzebub, went on to begin announcing that this match was between Eira's peerage and that of her Elder brother. Elsa was beside Szavelneas and after he spoke she began explaining the rules. "True enough, that last match was a farce, but this one has more succinct rules. Each King is to roll a single die, and the combined total of these rolls will be the numerical value of the pieces they can send out," Elsa explained with a smile on her face. "Each piece will have its regularly associated count. A pawn is worth one, a knight or a bishop is worth three. A rook would be worth five, and a queen would be worth nine," she said. "But this does include regular multipliers so, if a roll is six, both knights could be sent out, or a single rook with a single pawn," she stated taking a moment to breath. "But multipliers are also in effect, so if your pieces are worth more than their allotted value that will also be taken into account," the raven haired woman mentioned as she cut her eyes in the direction of both of these individuals who seemed to have a habit of making multiple piece reincarnations. "Besides that the status of each of the Kings has been taken into account and Sirtreize Lucifer as King is worth twelve pawns..." mentioned the woman with a sideways glance as Satan Beelzebub figuring such calculations were made by him. "Eira Gremory as a King is worth eight pawns..." she concluded. This was a surprising bit of information to Elsa, given the fact that the number was considerably higher than she expected it to be. It made her wonder what the girl had done previously to make Szavelneas calculate her as such.

Eira paid attention to this entire speech as she hadn't known the real rules of one of these before this moment. Hearing them now, she understood the earlier rage seen in Izuna as it would have been normal for him to get a shot to actually do some real damage. That as an aside, Eira still knew herself to be at a pretty stark disadvantage, given her piece make up, both herself and Takumi couldn't be on the field at the same time as any of her pieces except Miyuki or Hiroki. Not that she seemed particularly worried about this at all, her face was impassive and she managed to retain the normal regal air she always had about her person, even when annoyed by what was happening around her. "Yare yare, if Nii-sama wanted to have a Rating Game he could have done it with anyone..." she let slip from her mouth. Though she knew members of her peerage were still excited by it. "Hai, but he chose to have it with you... so, we won't let you down!" mentioned Maiko as she slammed her fists together. Seeing this girl's determination, Eira made her red leather gloves appear within her hands and smirked. "Well, if you're gonna be excited you might as well be prepared," Eira said.

[Bloodedge]

Takumi, Izuna and Hiroki were all listening intently to the words of Elsa Leviathan, even though Izuna had taken the time to learn the ins-and outs of Dice Figure Games during the false battle against Onoko Astaroth. Takumi was able to properly learn something new as he watched from his spot between Eira and Miyuki, and Hiroki was able to get a more coherent explanation than what the raging Izuna had to offer earlier this day. "Our first real Rating Game is against a Satan!" exclaimed Izuna. "I'm with Maiko. I know there's not much of a chance we'll win this, but... my skin's crawling in a really good way right now!" In all fairness to the less reasonable members of the peerage - Maiko and Izuna - even Hiroki was grinning. At the very least, this could serve as a great learning experience, and even a chance for Eira's members to know what they could strive for. Many times, the blonde Bishop had heard there were plenty of comparisons to be drawn between the peerage of Eira, and that of her brother the Crimson Satan.

Speaking of the Crimson Satan, he stood before his own peerage, facing a large bowl with a single die in front of it. A hole was in the bottom of this bowl, leading into the automated system that would show the crowd, and both sets of participants, their dice numbers. Sirtreize took the initiative of picking up his die while Szevelneas spoke again. "This is sure to be an exciting match to welcome the new generation. So, without further ado... Kings! Roll!" At the other Satan's command, Sirtreize dropped his die into the bowl. All monitors would show the roll of both parties, which in Sirtreize's case produced the number...

3

[Apollymi]

The excitement coming from the more bubbly members of her peerage was about what Eira expected. When she had a look at everyone present, she found even Hiroki had a large grin on his face, and the normally apathetic Youmu had a hand resting upon the hilt of the wakizashi at her waist. A sigh escaped Eira at this point, as it become very obvious that everyone here, was in a way better mood about this, than she was. That smirk on her face fell into a grin as she spoke to this group. "Fine fine, if you all want to go for it. I'll be happy to, then we can have a sleepover at my place. Like old times~" she chimed, seeming to enjoy the idea of a nice naked cuddle fest post what was likely to be a very striking loss. At the very least, her peerage would get to know what sort of aims they should have, especially given the likenesses between the people she attracted and those Sirtreize himself had managed to gather. Knowing a roll was coming next, Eira finally extricated herself from the grip of Takumi, though to be honest, she'd enjoyed the physical contact maintained for such a duration of time, especially knowing that the young man was unlikely to do such things himself given his own personality. There was the slightest pang in her chest as she did this, even so, she soon found herself standing before a bowl with a single die in her hand. And at the announcement that the King should roll, she tossed it into the bowl and watched it spin as the cameras panned around them before giving the result.

1

Eira looked up to find the total number which was subsequently being announced by Elsa. "Alright that's a total of four, Kings decide who you're sending out and then the first match will start!" was the excited utterance of Elsa Leviathan. Eira looked up from her bowl and knew who she had to send, regardless of her own feelings about it. "Hiro, gambatte ne!~" she said with all the happiness and determination she could muster for her first Bishop, as she looked towards the blonde haired young man. She hadn't wanted to do such a thing so immediately, but she couldn't well send out Miyuki after having her participate with her the last time.

[Bloodedge]

The number to determine the first cap was four. Upon seeing this total, Sirtreize knew exactly who Eira could send out. Just the same, he knew exactly who he would be sending into battle. "Rei-chan! You're up first," he said as his arms crossed. For the sake of privacy on either side, the audio-visual feed in each room was disabled the moment both dice were rolled, and a magical dome covered each section.

Hiroki was at the ready the moment his name was called. He knew from the given number, the decision would be between Miyuki and himself, and Eira wasn't likely to make the former participate so early regardless. "Hai!" the boy spoke. He stepped forward onto an orange platform even farther out than the dice-rolling bowl. This space served the purpose of teleporting participants to the battlegrounds, which now showed on everyone's monitors as a barren land with dark skies, filled with floating marble-like structures of just about every color in the normal spectrum. Hiroki appeared in this area within moments of stepping onto the platform, and was left waiting to see what sort of opponent he would face. As he waited, he rubbed his hands against one another, carefully touching the rings on each middle finger.

[Apollymi]

At the mention of her pet name, the aptly named Reiko, stood, with a single doughnut in her hand. Her skin was surprisingly pink in color and she was dressed like a classic Djinn complete with gold jewelry and over-sized white pants and small black boots, and long black sleeves up each arm but attached to nothing. From the back of her body came a large pink tail which swished as she moved forward to the platform which would move her out. "Hai hai~" the woman said with black sclera and glowing red eyes which gave a gentle wink as she finished her snack before she'd find herself facing the member Eira had chosen from her peerage. When she arrived she looked around taking in the scenery. "Eh? I don't think I've ever fought here before..." she said seemingly amused by it. She looked to the blonde boy, and had a strange greeting to offer him. "I'm Reiko. I was a Djinn. And I don't normally fight alone..." she said as she began bouncing on her toes and then on her tail. "It's nice to meet you~" she said sounding very pleased regardless of what was about to happen here. "How about you introduce yourself, then... show me what you got~" she said offering the boy a wink with a bemused expression.

Eira to her credit sent an encouraging smile to her Bishop before she went and sat back down, in her previous seat beside Takumi. She knew her brother had many more options for this than she did, but she also had faith in Hiroki's abilities to defend himself. Upon seeing him and his opponent on the field a smile crossed her face. 'At the very least he'll get to see something cool...' she thought as she witnessed the pink Djinn calmly introduce herself.

[Bloodedge]

Hiroki was ready for whatever challenge appeared from Sirtreize's side of the stadium. What he saw moments after his arrival was a female creature, whom he'd seen in passing during the party, but assumed she belonged to some other area of the Underworld. The last thing he would have expected was to discover she belonged to Sirtreize's peerage, much less that he'd be the one facing her. 'I wonder what kind of peerage Sirtreize Lucifer has. I'm already not seeing much that would make us comparable,' he thought.

After inspecting the battlefield and finding it new to her, the female combatant spoke to Hiroki directly. She introduced herself as a former Djinn, explaining right away the color and texture of her skin, as well as her tail to a lesser extent. She also mentioned that she did not typically fight alone. This simple fact was one Hiroki could relate to, and since he'd been asked for an introduction of his own, he offered that information along with it. "Yui Hiroki. Nice to meet you, Reiko-san. I should tell you that I also don't fight alone, but I don't think we have the same reason for that. Still... I'll do my best."

The first move was given to Hiroki, as far as he could tell. The demeanor of Reiko - in telling him to show her what he had to offer - was strange enough, as he was a bit taken aback by the added wink and general expression, but he prepared nonetheless. A bow of green energy formed in Hiroki's right hand, string and all, and the forefinger of his left hand extended as if he were holding an arrow. This was currently the most effective ranged form of his Twilight Healing Sacred Gear, sacrificing part of its ability to heal for much greater range, and far less consumption of stamina. After the training matches Eira's peerage had undergone prior to the Rating Game with Onoko, Hiroki completed this technique beyond what he previously thought possible. He'd seen his own weakness when using Reversal Magic offensively. His stamina was far from great enough to enter combat while expecting to accomplish anything like that. With this bow, though, he also found himself able to use Reversal Magic on his own abilities without draining himself nearly as quickly. The green light forming his bow turned red as he raised it, signifying that it had become the opposite of healing through Hiroki's magic. He aimed this bow at Reiko with his right hand rising to the string, and a trio of arrows formed in his grasp. Hiroki released these arrows simultaneously in a diagonal pattern. The uppermost arrow was aimed at Reiko's right shoulder, the center arrow carved a path toward the center of her abdomen, and the lowermost arrow aimed at her left leg. All three projectiles were the polar opposite of Twilight Healing, able to inflict raw damage on anything it touched and perceived as an enemy at the time, in the same way Twilight Healing was capable of repairing the wounds of any type of being it chose to.

[Apollymi]

Reiko seemed as cordial as ever, and much to her surprise the young man she faced seemed to be just as cordial. He'd gone on to introduce himself, finding a single commonality between them, the fact that they didn't normally fight alone. A smirk came to her face, because this young man claimed that they probably did that for different reasons, but she doubted that very seriously, not that he had any reason to know that. 'Sugoi!~ What a cute reaction~' the bemused Djinn thought noticing the slight shift as the young man was apparently unsure of how to respond to her wink. Soon enough she was doing something that the Djinn was somewhat familiar with, but not quite in this form. Strangely enough she seemed to be a bit amazed by what she saw, "Is that... Twilight Healing?" she asked as several arrows came flying towards her and she surprisingly enough didn't move out of the way of them. "Sugoi! You turned them into arrows... I've never seen it used like that before," the Djinn said seemingly wide eyed, but as three arrows made contact with her body they sank into her pink flesh.

There was pain there, and her eyes widened at the thought of it. Though her body was normally exceedingly malleable, the spots these arrows struck gave her an exceedingly high amount of pain and three gaping wounds. "Ano, that hurts. It's like... the exact opposite of Twilight Healing..." she paused thinking about it and found herself looking at this young man strangely. "That's really weird, so you run support too~" her body stretched around the pierced arrows and she balanced forward on her tail, making them fall out and dissipate. "We don't fight alone for the same reason by the way..." she mentioned. Strangely, the holes created by this boy's arrows didn't simply seal themselves up, like she would have expected. 'Ano, what did he do to me?' she wondered as she actually needed to heal her own wounds. So, she did, her tail coming up and around her and firing several green beams into the same areas previously pierced, she seemed to do this without any fear of what else could happen to her, seeming to be completely without guard.

Eira watched Hiro's opening move with wide eyes. She'd known about his ability to use his healing capabilities at a distance by use of an arrow, but she didn't know the young man had progressed his battle tactics to use the same to do damage to others by way of his Reversal Magic. "What a good idea, Hiro~" Eira chimed though the young man couldn't hear her, she was nothing but proud of this advancement. She wondered how it would far long term against the Djinn member of her brother's peerage.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. Twilight Healing is my Sacred Gear," he confirmed. Reiko was apparently surprised by, and perhaps even interested in his use of Sacred Gear. He had personally adopted Reversal Magic for the sole purpose of aiding his master, Eira, in ways that went beyond being a healer on the sidelines. Only now was he finally showing signs of being able to properly branch out from his normal role. This came into play when Reiko noted the functionality of his offense, comparing it in opposition to the standard healing of Twilight Healing. "I use Reversal Magic to make it un-heal anything it hits. As Eira Gremory's Bishop, this is the least I could do to develop my own offensive ability. If I hit someone enough, I could make them wither away." These words from Hiroki may have sounded slightly boastful, but he was quite satisfied with his own development. At long last, he would be able to participate as more than a helping hand to those who fall victim to their enemies' aggression.

Sadly for Hiroki, his opponent in this battle had some level of healing ability as well. The difference between Reiko and Hiroki though, was the former's ability to heal herself, even undoing the effect of Hiroki's reversed Twilight Healing. He had no clue he'd even made the minor accomplishment of stopping whatever method Reiko normally used to repair herself, having no idea how Djinn functioned. Still, he was cautious enough to fall back as she did this in such a carefree manner. She hadn't bothered avoiding his arrows, and now she was hardly even acknowledging the large opening she left when fixing the wounds. If Hiroki knew one thing, it was that not every opening was best taken.

Meanwhile, Eira took note of Hiroki's methods, and commented aloud. Since the start of the fight, Izuna had taken to floating around the room their peerage resided in. He eventually caught wind of the young woman's words, and floated to her fore. "He figured that out yesterday after his training match. You didn't really think nobody would take as much time as possible to get ready for the Rating Game, did you?"

[Apollymi]

Reiko got confirmation about this boy's Sacred Gear, and after taking several hits, it seemed he was fine to watch her heal herself. Obviously it wouldn't have mattered to her, if he'd attacked her while she healed or not, his explanation of what he'd done, and why he'd decided to progress as such made a small smile come to her face. "Hm, you don't say... that's interesting, mixing magic with your Sacred Gear to get a new effect," she said with a smile. "Not taking advantage of an obvious opening because it's too obvious..." she said finishing up healing herself and touching the spot in her abdomen which had previously been an open hole. "You really did something strange to me. I usually don't need to heal myself properly, my body moves around most things and I can redistribute myself, injuries usually bounce off me, refill and the like..." she mentioned casually. "I really commend you, Hiro-chan. You're really fun~" she chimed. Soon after she finally moved, but this time, her arms stretched forward clasping together behind his head without touching him, and instead taking hold of a large pink marble behind him. With this leverage she planned to rocket herself forward aiming a knee directly at his midsection at the full speed her body would have as her stretching came to an end. She'd taken his ranged combat method but in so doing, figured he likely wouldn't be ready for shorter ranged combat, even if he was, she had more than enough faith in her own combat skills to fight this way.

Meanwhile, Eira was given commentary by Izuna about how Hiroki had apparently figured out how to do this with his magic the previous day after his practice match. "Hm, I suppose I wasn't completely sold in my choices so I gave a lot of room for extra growth. Still, he made that sort of advancement in a single day~ It's amazing~" Eira said. She was always pleased with the growth and developments from her peerage, and she couldn't be happier that her Bishop was figuring out how to be useful on all fronts in battle.

[Bloodedge]

Hiroki would be learning one more thing about this Djinn woman today. In this case, he was informed of how she normally recovered from wounds, and that he had managed to bypass that method with his attack. While this was an interesting thing to take note of, he was certain she could have just avoided the damage dealt with no issue. This natural advantage against such an opponent could perhaps come in handy one day, though today would certainly not be that day. Besides her self-healing, Reiko exemplified another ability of hers in the form of stretching limbs, obviously in relation to her most recently-mentioned physical attributes. Her arms extended without bothering to come into contact with Hiroki, instead grabbing onto a solid object in the air behind him. Reiko pulled her arms back into place, creating a shooting rubber band-like effect from her arms' recoil. This occurred so quickly after the initial stretching, that Hiroki could not even fathom the goings-on until Reiko was suddenly upon him. By then, of course, all was too late. Time itself seemed to slow down for the lad as a knee drove itself into his torso, knocking every speck of wind from his lungs before causing him to rocket into the very same marble Reiko used to pull herself. Hiroki hit the marble hard enough to chip it and leave his mark within it, and soon, he was on the ground beneath the marble, dissolving in a green ethereal glow known as the Retirement System. The fight was over for him just as quickly as it started, but he had at least done something. Hiroki would not be returning to Eira and the others. Instead, he was taken to a separate location for those who retired and needed tending to.

"For the first match, our winner is the Pawn of Sirtreize, Reiko! That was an excellent show of abilities on both sides, but any who have seen Reiko in combat should have known this was over long before it began! Now, let us have the next roll from our Kings!" While Szavelneas spoke to the audience, Sirtreize picked up his die again. He was already prepared and waiting for the announcement, and now that it had been given, he dropped his die into the bowl once more. This time, the number which appeared from his roll was...

2

[Apollymi]

Reiko won her match watching as this boy fell to the ground before her after the very physical attack she'd launched. Surprisingly enough, as this boy faded from this particular place, she blew him a kiss and offered yet another wink, a grin crossing her face. When she returned to Sirtreize's side in this match, she seemed unfazed by what she'd done, and moved right along without much protest. Meanwhile, Eira watched from her side, without seeming to be particularly stunned by this outcome. Truly she didn't believe in sacrificing any of her pieces, but she'd known that it was very unlikely that any in her peerage could in a straight forward way top any in Sirtreize's. Given this she'd initially not even been a fan of this fight, but, before he left and while he was fighting Hiroki seemed confident and happy. And she could do nothing but be proud of his efforts. As the announcement happened she stood once more and picked up a die to roll. 'Ugh, this is fast and slow at the same time. I am enjoying watching the fights, but it's heart breaking sending them out knowing the likelihood of them topping is so low...' she thought to herself, a gentle furrowing of her brow denoting her general distaste. She dropped her die into the bowl and the camera would show the number.

5

"That's a seven. Kings send out your next choices~" these were the words of Elsa Leviathan as she watched. Curiously, enough Eira turned around to speak, but, instead of her having to say anything, Youmu simply moved forward to the orange platform to be moved out. She looked back, with those icy blue eyes of hers seeming to shine with an unknown bit of fire. "I'm the closest you get to seven, Eir... You don't get to take this from me..." her normally apathetic knight seemed a bit spirited today. A small smile settled over Eira's face in this moment and she nodded. "I mean, if you want to stretch who am I to say no... Gambatte Youmu~" mentioned Eira as she watched this girl disappear to the battlefield apparently more than ready to put herself into a match with impossible odds.

[Bloodedge]

"Atta girl, Reiko! You looked like you were even having fun out there for a minute," Sirtreize commented as one of his Pawns returned to their booth. Soon enough though, his and Eira's dice were being mixed into the system to produce the number cap for their next match. Seven was the total given. Sirtreize took a single moment to think over the setup Eira's peerage had. "Hmm... Looks like it's going to be the Knight. She wouldn't send just the little girl," he said aloud during his time of thought. Much like the experience on Eira's end, Sirtreize was not allowed to speak his choice before one of his members stepped forward.

"I've seen that Knight of hers. I'll go alone," spoke Serde Astaroth who, judging by the expression upon Sirtreize's face at this time, wasn't going to be his selection. Either way, Serde stepped onto the transportation platform to appear momentarily in a vast terrain covered in grass. The combatants would be positioned atop a large hill with a steep cliff at its edge, and at the top of said hill was a grand scaffold over a hundred times the size of what could be considered normal. Without wasting any time at all, he began speaking with the opponent he expected to face. "You were the most interesting one I saw at the party. Show me what it is you do."

[Apollymi]

Reiko rather suddenly had a cupcake in her hand, from where this appeared or why none could say. But what she did have to say, was something concerning the Bishop that belonged to Eira. "That Bishop is strange. He managed to hurt me and I didn't think ones this early on could manage something like that... give him a while, and he'll be dangerous~" she mentioned as if amused, before sinking her teeth into the cupcake she held. "He was definitely fun~" she finished up. It seemed that beyond this, Sirtreize knew his sister would send her Knight. What he couldn't know was that such a choice was that of the Knight alone, much like what would happen on his end.

Youmu soon found herself standing in a vast grassland, and in front of her was none other than Serde Astaroth. "Oh? It's you... Eir speaks highly of you," the white haired young woman said her face seeming a stoic mask, but her eyes seemed to shine. It was as if Eira speaking highly of someone changed how she felt about them in some way. In this case, she knew this man to be Sirtreize's Knight, and wondered immediately how she compared, though that was obviously something which would happen regardless. She knew this man had shown kindness to Eira when she was younger and as such, was keen to figure out what he was like, and there was only one way to do that. She moved her hand from the wakizashi at her hip up to the sword across her back. This sword unbeknownst to most, was a sword created by youkai and passed along her family for generations. It was meant to kill Devils, and as such it being in the possession of one, was likely considered sacrilege. She drew it in a single moment and it was longer than any sword should be, almost four feet in length and she immediately aimed a vicious slash at Serde putting the weight of her body behind it, across his form from his left shoulder towards his right hip. But even as she did this, she seemed to be utterly calm.

[Bloodedge]

"I tried to warn you when we were preparing the party. Eira's peerage is never to be taken lightly. She's the Ruin Princess for more reasons than you would think. She's the type of person whose members will either become strong enough to destroy anything in her way, or destroy themselves trying to reach that level of strength... all for her." Sirtreize spoke while viewing the monitor that showed the ongoing match. If there were two members he knew from Eira's peerage who exemplified his clause, this Knight was one of them for sure. He was certain the rest of his members would understand soon enough what he meant, but he felt it could come from this very fight. "This one should be the former. Hanin Hanrei and Kaki no Saishi are the ones who've seen growth in her hands. At any point, they could destroy themselves with the amount of dedication they have, but so long as they don't... they'll destroy all opposition. They're the ones that make me wonder what will become of her newer members. What if the others continue along that path as well..."

Youmu's first statement to Serde involved how Eira spoke of him. She seemed to be looking forward to this match by virtue of that, but whether this was true or not, was not for Serde to assume nor look into. "Does she? I suppose I should be flattered, but let's focus on what we have here and now," he replied. Youmu had entered with her hand upon one of two weapons, but the one she drew was the other, much longer sword equipped to her person. Serde's eyes narrowed at the sight of this weapon, but his focus remained for the duration of her charge toward him. Her drawn blade was met by an outward swipe of Serde's left hand. The hand itself was not what would stop the sword, but rather, several hundreds of tiny blades reminiscent of sakura petals were produced in its wake. These blades formed an arc to parry Youmu's slash, though it seemed to cleave its way through a few inches of the collection before being properly ensnared. This event narrowed Serde's eyes more. "That isn't a Demon Sword. It's interesting that you would have it," he said as the fore and middle fingers of his right hand moved in unison, creating another wave of blades at his side to arc around toward Youmu's left side.

[Apollymi]

The words that Eira's peerage should never be taken lightly left Sirtreize's mouth and his wife seemed to smile about it just the same. She knew and understood the type of person the Gremory Heiress was, and understood why Sirtreize would say the things he did. She watched as she brought home the stray and lost members and made them into her family and watched as they gained powers or began to better utilize the ones they had. "Well dedication is important, and Eira will need that more than most at some point. Besides she adores them, in an equally destructive way," mentioned Cinder. She had nothing but good thoughts surrounding the young woman's peerage. And would be shown soon the growth of a certain half-phantom the young woman had within her peerage.

Youmu soon enough found her blade stopped. It appeared that Serde might have been flattered by Eira speaking highly of him, but much like his earlier moment he didn't seem to fret about it. She managed to push her way through a few inches of the blades before being stopped completely. Her eyes brightened in this moment, gaining an ethereal glow, which seemed to be spreading around her body. Within the time it took for her to think, her entire body became intangible, these blades of Serde's moving through her side without much of a problem to her. She had no problem with this instantaneous integration of her Spiritual Half, and used it to put a bit of distance between her and Serde. But surprisingly, she didn't make an immediate move, much like Hiroki, there was a lot to be said about a man who stood in the face of such a blade and didn't flinch at all. Again, her entire countenance was nothing but calm and she stood with her long blade in her hand. "Sou ka, that's what she meant. That's a lot of blades," she said seeming to think about it. "Roukanken came to me after I was born. It chose me, even though it was made by Youkai," she mentioned. Truly it had been a great point of her life that she'd been capable of wielding this blade, something normal humans cannot do. But the nature of her spiritual half, saw to it that her family could not accept her as she was, but she didn't think of this now, because it didn't matter.

[Bloodedge]

"What who meant by what?" Serde questioned. It was quite clear that Youmo spoke of something involving him, considering her follow-up statement about the number of blades he used. On the other hand, though, there was much room for assumptions. What he didn't need to draw assumptions about was the nature of Youmu's sword, which managed to cleave its way through at least some of Serde's defense. "You're no Youkai. That's why it's interesting." Perhaps she was just being cautious, but Youmu did not have a follow-up attack. He wondered what all she had to offer in this fight. Maybe he could draw something out of her before their time was over. "You can almost cut through my spirit blades... Almost."

Serde also took interest in the method used by Youmu to avoid his previous attack. There was distance between them now, but his blades from moments prior simply passed through the girl. His right hand rose and pointed toward her, and roughly a thousand tiny blades of energy formed around Serde's body to begin their seemingly guided assault. The blades moved in unison like waves of water, billowing as they ripped through the air with intentions of swarming Youmu on all sides, and closing in on her person.

[Apollymi]

"I told Eir once that there wasn't anything Roukanken couldn't cut... but she told me one day I'd find something," she mentioned. It was strange to note, that this conversation in particular wasn't one that happened recently, but instead one of many conversations had between this pair of young women at various points in time. Youmu was without a thought in her life, about her own existence, but Eira had once made her consider it was worth it to keep living. "Also, I'm half-Phantom, so I am more like... half-Youkai," the young woman mentioned seeming to have no problem revealing this information. It never seemed to change much of anything anyways. The always calm white haired young woman allowed her body to become tangible again, the glow surrounding her person disappearing as she watched a thousand blades swarm her. 'I didn't think such a thing was possible but, I believed in Eir...' she thought as she moved her left hand down the length of her blade, and for a moment it would seem as if that ethereal glow once part of her body would instead be transferred into the weapon. This was a move she'd prepared ahead of their previous Rating Game, not knowing what to expect from a different kind of peerage than their own. As the thousands of blades surrounded her she took a deep breath, her body fully corporeal she could potentially be cut up in horrific ways, but, she had no fear. She'd never known it, she didn't care for her own life, she cared about Eira's. At her exhale, she began swinging her blade about concentrating the speed boosting aspect of her Knight trait on the use of her arms so that she could individual aim to shatter every individual blade over the course of several agonizing seconds. But in the end, every thing she'd come into contact with had been properly cut and the orb of petals dispersed around her.

Eira watched as this happened with wide eyes. She hadn't known Youmu had taken her earlier advice to heart in such a way. "Youmu, you really can cut anything~" she chimed finding this development to be spectacular. She knew Youmu had the potential to be her ultimate Knight and always called her as such, but she still didn't expect such a showing from this member of a peerage. The Heiress was moved almost to tears by this young woman's actions.

[Bloodedge]

"Is that so?" Serde wondered aloud. Whatever the case, Serde had every reason to believe it didn't matter if this girl could cut his energy blades. As such, he was very pleased to notice her doing exactly that during his barrage that could have otherwise caused her to retire from the Rating Game. Something normally unseen occurred while Youmu utilized extreme speed to slash at every blade he produced... and that was a smile appearing on Serde's face. "Konpaku Youmu, was it..." he said in a very low tone while appreciating this young Knight. As she busied herself with his small blades, the skies of their battlefield darkened, being consumed by a dome filled with Serde's Demonic Power.

"Senkei..."

Within this dome, four rows filled with thousands of full-sized swords appeared to circle the pair in what could be considered a more intimate arena of Serde's design. This was the true form of his power, used only when he chose to cut down an opponent with his own two hands, and when he had eyes for only one opponent amongst many. In this particular case, Youmu had earned enough of his respect that he refused to face her any longer without proper swordplay. By the time Youmu finished with his previous attack, Serde was already charging toward her with one of the many thousand swords darting down into his right hand. When he reached Youmu, Serde took this blade and slashed upward with it, aiming to cut from Youmu's left hip to her right shoulder while still moving forward.

During the development of Serde's technique dubbed "Senkei," Sirtreize sighed. He'd seen this used many times since knowing Serde Astaroth, but that was over the course of many, many years. It could easily be said that the full use of this ability was hardly utilized. "Of all the times to use that, he picks now? This was supposed to be a friendly match, not a massacre."

[Apollymi]

It was the truth of course, but, it didn't much matter. Youmu succeeded in her efforts to clear all the blades around her, but she was in for something different than she expected. Serde moved right along, asking the girl's name, which she confirmed with a gentle nod of her head as the glow seemed to recede down her blade and back towards her hand. But before she could allow this to properly happen, she took note of the sky around them, darkened by Serde's mechanization, as well as the speech of a spell or power. And she was introduced to a world full of energy blades, of Serde's creation. "Sugoi!" Her eyes widened, but still, she wasn't afraid. That burning glow in her eyes returned, as this was as close to excited as the normally apathetic Youmu ever got. And soon enough she was being charged with a slashing motion, and she was raising her sword to meet it, trying to speedily will the phantom half of her back up the blade as Serde's slashed against hers, but it wouldn't make it.

"Well, that's bothersome..." she said as she pivoted, backing away from the clash and watching as about half her sword was cut clean off by the power of the man before her. She'd never thought something like this would happen and found herself looking at the blade in her hand, then at the man across from her, then back at the blade. She wasn't finished yet, but how could she be expected to keep fighting while holding her Phantom self within her blade at a constant rate? She gave it not a moment of hesitation, with a wide grin crossing her face. She looked over this broken heirloom sword in her hand, and quickly thought about her use of Spirit to enhance it before. That part of the blade had survived, so maybe there was something else to be done.

In the stands, Maiko went wide-eyed. "Why is she smiling at a time like this? Her sword is broken!" she asked the world at large. "Youmu always has a plan, and thinks quickly, she'll figure something out..." she said without a moment of thought. If there was one thing she could trust, it was the smile on Youmu's face. Nothing stirred this girl, not death or life, but... the challenges she faced on Eira's behalf, gave her happiness, through the pleasantries she knew it gave Eira to see them grow. At the same time, Cinder Fall laughed at Sirtreize's statement about the unneeded massacre likely to occur because of Serde's chosen attack. "You know Serde doesn't often find someone he can respect in a fight. This is like the biggest compliment he could give anyone."

"Gomennasai, this will hurt a lot, bear with me..." she said to no one visible, initially. But as she spoke her apology, the spirit constantly hovering around her made itself known in a brilliant blue light. She grabbed at this spirit, seeming to move it screamingly along the blade of her broken weapon. Everyone present got to bear witness to the half-Phantom reforging her blade with the power of the spirit connected to her. Its power vibrated around them, and Youmu's own demonic power shone in light blue as she aimed to fix her weapon. She infused this soul into her weapon, causing it more than a little bit of discomfort as she aimed to replace its broken cutting edge at its present length, not at all worrying over its lost length. Her eyes glowed and a light grimace crossed her face, as she too felt this pain, but it was worth it... to keep fighting, to prove here and now why she was Eira Gremory's Ultimate Knight.

[Bloodedge]

In response to Serde's slash, Youmu held her own blade against his. Serde's eyes caught a quick glimpse of the girl's blade - at least part of it - jettisoning in a direction other than where she pivoted. This sight in combination with the feeling he had in his sword-wielding hand during the clash, told him that the almighty Youkai sword of Youmu did not have the level of resistance boasted by Demon Swords and Holy Swords. This was quite an interesting turn of events; Serde hadn't actually expected this to happen. "Gomennasai. I assumed Youkai blades were as durable as Demon and Holy ones. Still, it may be salvageable," he said, seeming to actually care that he'd broken the girl's sword. On one hand, at least she had another blade that seemed usable for combat. On the other hand, she did say the sword she'd been using was one that chose her specifically.

Even while wielding a broken sword, Youmu seemed to have every intention of extending its use right away. Rather than saving it for potential repair later, she made tangible the spiritual being attached to her, and began virtually reforging what remained of her blade by using the spirit. It was apparent that this action caused the girl some discomfort, but it was that fact that made her efforts even more respectable. As such, Serde righted his posture and patiently awaited his opponent. "I chose the right fight. This is the most interesting thing I've seen in decades."

[Apollymi]

Youmu worked with great pain for several moments, but when the light subsided, she was left to exhale and look down the length of her blade. It had been tapered off to an appropriate curve and maintained a constant ethereal glow as she turned it in her hands. Her face returned to its normal impassive state as she gave the sword a few practice swings and adjusted to its shorter length. "Iie, my grandfather once said a Youkai blade isn't as strong as Holy or Demon Blades. Its strength lies in the fact that it can be mended by Youkai with their magic. I used part of my Phantom half to reinforce and reshape the blade. It is something, I would have attempted later, even if it hadn't broken," she mentioned, basically being an explanation as to why she had no intention of accepting this man's apology. "You simply gave me a reason to try it now," she stated with the same amount of fire in her eyes that she'd possessed upon stepping into this place. Youmu finished her test swings, and since she was a member of the Kendo Club at school, she found herself rather easily adjusting to the shortened length of this blade. If anything, it would be better for her general use overall, and she could even have the sheathe made a more reasonable size. Resulting in the ability carry it a more traditional way, not that this mattered right now.

After watching this girl reforge her blade, Eira looked on with wide eyes. She always felt sure of her decisions, but in moments like these she felt justified. Getting to see something like this, even when she was so previously annoyed by the idea of this Rating Game, made it all worth while. "Youmu has come so far from her shut in self..." she thought aloud. "She really just remade her weapon on the spot! Who even has skills like that really? Sheesh, I'm never gonna catch up to anyone at this rate," said Maiko, who was simultaneously happy for Youmu and had a very hard time reconciling her own spot among Eira's peerage members. A smirk would come from Eira as she turned to the raven haired lass standing behind her and placed a kiss against her forehead. Such a moment seemed to shock Maiko just a little and while she looked stunned, Eira spoke. "Don't worry Maiko, everyone will grow in their own time. You included~" Eira chimed, and she meant this. She simply didn't chose those without potential, and she counted on her ability to help even ones like Maiko grow into whatever they wanted to be. Meanwhile, on the other side, Cinder Fall would watch the magic used by the girl, and Serde's stance on not attacking while she did so. "See, there was nothing to worry about, Serde's even gone so far as to wait for her to finish fixing her weapon. Even though she had another one at her side," she said, in a gentle bit of teasing for her previously worried husband.

After a moment Youmu was sure of the balance of her weapon. She sent a smile in the direction of Serde, who seemed to think he'd chosen the right fight, by virtue of what he'd gotten to see here. "Really? That's a coincidence, I also chose this fight..." she said, finding it a bit strange that both she and Sirtreize's Knight had at least one similar personality trait. Eira's favoritism of the man before her, led her to believe their likeness was probably a bit greater than that. "I don't know what this does anymore... swords like this change when they are reforged," she said. She made a bit of a mental leap, and assumed this man wouldn't mind being the first person besides her to know what her sword was now capable of, and as such she rushed him, aiming and upward slash from his left hip to his right shoulder, the now constantly ethereal blade, would cut what it touched, and beyond that if contact weren't made, add a burst of unnatural spiritual cold.

[Bloodedge]

"Sou ka. You'e managed to teach me something today then." Time and time again over the course of this battle, Youmu managed to impress the Knight of Sirtreize. It even appeared to be the case that she was keen on continuing the fight, despite having her primary sword broken and repaired using a piece of her very soul. Normally, the power gap alone would have made Serde's use of Senkei cause a retreat or immediate loss for his enemy, yet there she stood still. She even made an effort to attack again, slashing at him diagonally upwards from his left. Serde's left hand opened in response, calling yet another of his blades to dart into it. The moment Youmu's reforged sword clashed into his new blade, he slashed with his first held weapon again, aiming to attack Youmu the exact same way she had just assaulted him while her blade was still pressed against his. Something strange was felt by Serde in the meantime, though. As his left hand held the sword which kept Youmu's blade from harming him, he felt an eerie chill beginning at the palm of his hand, and creeping up his arm. 'Oh? What might this be?' he wondered.

Back at the hub for Eira's peerage, Youmu's ability was being noted by all. In particular, one such as Takumi - state of hypnotism aside - was able to see what a more long-standing member of this peerage was capable of, and he was nothing shy of amazed. Maiko basically took the words out of the lad's mouth in claiming she'd never catch up at this rate, as he thought the same. However, Eira silenced this further with her beliefs. Izuna chimed in as well from his floating position near the crimson-haired lass. "I think Maiko's had enough 'growth' for everybody. Unless you're trying to be overthrown, that is~"

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Sirtreize's Knight was impressed by Youmu, and Youmu herself was impressed by this man. There was a ton of Demonic Power within him, and the attack he made to deal with his enemies was by far the most impressive displays of control and shape manipulation she'd ever seen. One such example of this was a new blade called to his hand to block the coming slash she'd prepared. Of course, this was immediately followed up his original sword, aiming an assault of the same quality as the one she'd just launched. That strange grin, came back to the girl's face as her personal ethereal glow returned following the path of the slash and she allowed her body to be phased through by the blade and used her time and speed to shift her body in the direction of the slash, but out of the range of her original weapon. She switched to a backhanded grip, but made no moves forward, instead she fed her Phantom self into her blade. Forgoing her previous defense, caused the glow to brighten as she slashed outward, a chilling burst would add range and energy to her next slash as she aimed to shatter the two blades held by this man and aim to accost him with, the chill of a ghost directly across his fore. She knew it was futile, that there were thousands of blades surrounding her, and that if anything happened she couldn't dodge them all. Even so, she couldn't stop herself from seeing this all the way to the end, from knowing exactly what the difference was between herself, and Serde Astaroth.

Maiko on the other hand, took a few seconds and finally managed to gather herself. "Hai!" she said having renewed faith in the idea that she too could become something as amazing as the Knight she was witnessing. Of course, this moment of happiness was soon turned into one of teasing embarrassment as Izuna pointed out the growth of a different type that Maiko had already experienced. Eira being the curious sort looked down and nodded. "Fair, but you know that wasn't at all what she was talking about~" Eira said. Maiko managed to actually be embarrassed in this moment, her face flushing a ridiculous shade of red. "Urusai! Kagimi!" she turned and crossed her arms over her chest seemingly uncomfortable for the first time since she'd first been seen. A chuckle escaped Eira, "Look what you did I-zu-na~"

[Bloodedge]

Once more, Serde's attack was met by Youmu's strange phasing ability. In the future, he could see this technique being quite the problem for virtually any opponent. For now, Serde himself was encountering a different issue, in the form of wondering how he would bring an end to the battle without using something which, in bypassing Youmu's intangibility, could avoid an accidental killing. "You have my respect, Konpaku Youmu. You are leagues above your class as a Devil," he said while aiming to raise his left blade, but finding his entire arm numb and nigh immobile. 'So that's what it was...' Without proper use of his left arm, Serde left the sword it held return to its former place. In fact, he let the first sword he wielded return as well, while Youmu charged him again.

"Let us meet again when you reach the next class. I'll look forward to facing you, or even... fighting alongside you one day." Serde seemed to be without a care for the outcome of this Rating Game. Had Youmu not been a swordsman, he likely would have shown his appreciation of her abilities by letting her retire him here and now, that she might be of use to Eira later in the match. Alas, honor among swordsmen dictated that he aim to strike her down if he had the ability, and Serde was quite certain he had the ability. As Youmu made her way with another slash aimed at him, Serde looked toward the younger Knight's face.

"Ikka Senjinka," he spoke calmly. This was considered Serde's ultimate attack; it willed every single blade of his Senkei form toward his target at once. Thousands of blades from four rows around them all stopped circling simultaneously, pointed their tips inward, and closed in rapidly on Youmu. While they moved in unison, the separation of rows and space allowed for a total of four overlapping barrages of blades all over. Serde remained stationary and calm. Apparently, he intended to finish off Youmu before she even reached him with her attack. One with a keen enough eye might also note that even with thousands of blades encroaching upon the girl, Serde very acutely avoided having any of them target her head and heart.

Izuna's teasing was interestingly met by agreement from Eira, albeit with a note about his words being off topic. Still, he succeeded in bothering Maiko. That alone was his original intention. With Eira pointing out what he'd done, he took her words literally by floating toward Maiko and circling the girl. "I am looking! It's cool, Maiko; you're swimmin' in dudes by now, right? Isn't that what girls want? Ryuu-chan over there seems fine, and she's only got one on her!" he said, noting the odd fact that Takumi's right arm remained over the shoulder of their young Bishop, with a conspicuous hand upon her chest as it had been since the party.

[Apollymi]

As she finished her onslaught, Youmu was told by Serde himself, that she'd gained his respect. The white haired girl's eyes widened slightly then returned to their normal state. She now fully understood why Eira spoke so highly of this man, he was in fact, respectable and nice. "Now, you're flattering me," she said finding it to be the only appropriate way to respond to his words about her power. It seemed their battle would be coming to an end soon, and she was happy she'd taken this fight over the any of the others. She would have preferred returning to Eira's side to continue helping her, but she knew that she could rely on the others to do their part as well. She couldn't help but feel something at this meeting, strange though it might be. "Hai, it was nice meeting you properly. I look forward to seeing you again, Serde-nii," Youmu said, doing as she did with Sirtreize, and adapting the name, Eira called him. It seemed that as a swordsman she didn't consider a meeting between two people proper until sword play was involved. She found herself watching as the man struggled to raise his hand and her eye diverted slightly to her blade. 'Sou ka, you've got that sort of reach now...' she mentioned of the blade. Still, she knew this battle was coming to and end, and though she might have been able to mount some kind of offense, she knew at her present level, she'd be unable to cut him down.

What an interesting sight to be held, thousands of blades circling her form as they moved to converge upon her. She'd made the decision early to defend only her vitality, her head and her heart, but... she found very easily as that ethereal glow returned to her eyes, that nothing was aimed at either of these places. 'Sou ka, he's that nice...' she thought a smirk appearing upon her face, before the massacre that was a thousand blades happened upon her person, soon enough the girl disappeared in the green light of the retiring system. Much to the shock of the crowd, or maybe even knowing she'd likely lose, they hoped for her. "That looks like the end, the winner is Sirtreize's Knight, Serde Astaroth. But what a valliant effort from Konpaku Youmu," said Elsa who even as a Satan was impressed by the white haired girl's fortitude. She was beginning to understand why, Sirtreize had such a stark belief in his sisters abilities.

Eira's eyes shifted to the screen and she saw the coming retirement of Youmu. Still there had been a smile on the white haired girl's face for the duration of the fight, so she knew she'd at least enjoyed herself. The Heiress also noted a smile at some point on the face of Serde which made her chuckle just a bit. 'I'm glad you managed to have fun too, Serde-nii~' she thought about this, knowing Serde wasn't the type to injure someone for no reason. Meanwhile, Maiko was fending off commentary from Izuna once more as the young man floated around her, this teasing seemed to work against the young woman just a little. "Ugh, it isn't even like that. Not everyone just wants attention, Kagimi. I'm just trying to live my life. Do you know what happens when guys swarm you or give you the eye all the time?!" she demanded knowing about the attention she got from young men her age. While this happened, Miyuki managed to look abashed because she was wondering how she managed to get pulled into this conversation again. A sigh escaped Eira as she filled in the blanks, casually looking towards the still enamored Takumi and the now embarrassed Miyuki. "She's going to say, their girlfriends get mad because of the wayward attention she gets. Then to get the girls to leave her alone, she has to beat up their boyfriends. This makes her get suspended from school~" she said. Maiko's eyes widened at this information because she hadn't shared why she'd gotten suspended. "Eira-sama.... I..." she started and the young woman turned around. "You didn't have to tell me, though you could have... why do you think I didn't give you that hundred spankings?" she asked the girl who looked stunned. "I mean... aside from you seeming like you liked it a bit too much last time~" she teased, standing up because she realized she'd need to roll the dice again.

[Bloodedge]

As Youmu was fading away, Serde turned from her. However, he did not quite turn his back; he instead turned to the side while keeping his eye on the girl throughout her retirement. "Hai. Next time, I expect you to cut me down," he said as the last semblance of Youmu faded away. Following the announcement of his victory, Serde was returned to Sirtreize's peerage, where he calmly seated himself.

"We're starting to see some exciting matches now. That battle of Knights really got the crowd going, and it looks like we have more people rooting for the underdog now. Let's not waste the hype. Kings, roll the dice!" At the mention of another dice roll by Szavelneas, Sirtreize picked up his die again. He hesitated this time, wearing a grin on his face during a moment of thought before he finally dropped the die into the bowl. The roll which appeared on his end was...

5

While the members of Eira's peerage awaited the total number and decision of who'd go out next, Izuna sighed a response to Maiko. "Why the hell would I know that? I'm far from a girl; there aren't any dudes swarming me," he said. Of course, Eira went on to give the explanation Maiko had been getting at. Nothing about this information bothered Izuna at all, but Takumi was another story. The newest member of the peerage heard this story about Maiko's suspension, and his eyes widened. The red coloration to his irises faded out and back in over the course of a few seconds, and during that time, his right hand twitched slightly, yet in a noticeable way for one in Miyuki's position. It seemed something about what occurred to get Maiko suspended resonated with the lad in some way.

[Apollymi]

"Hai!"

A singular statement uttered by a fading Youmu would be for Serde only. Still that match had all but come to an end, and the Knight of Sirtreize's Peerage returned to his place within their hub. Cinder found herself watching this return with a raised brow, he was a very calm individual. "Serde, did you have fun?" she asked, while waiting for the secondary roll. Eira had already risen to throw a die, and once she had, it landed in the bowl, rolling several times before stopping.

4

"That looks like a nine, Ladies and Gentlemen. Kings decide your next pieces and send them out!~" mentioned the Satan Leviathan. Eira looked down at the bowl before returning her attention to her peerage. She couldn't help but notice the teasing going on between her members which was about normal. What wasn't normal was Takumi's reaction to hearing the reason that Maiko was suspended from school and the only one to notice this directly would be Miyuki who felt herself accosted a bit beyond what had become normal at this point. "Taku-senpai, are you alright?" she asked seemingly concerned. Meanwhile, Eira heard the overall number and began to pontificate aloud. "Hm, at a nine Nii-sama will assume I'll send out Izuna, since I can't partner with him myself. Thinking I'll do that he'll likely send Cin-nee..." she mused. "I could instead send Miyuki and Maiko, or even just Takumi but... I'd feel bad denying you the chance to fight the Ultimate Queen, I-zu-na~" she chimed. Her decision was easily made by virtue of the young man wanting to fight earlier. "Remember Izuna, you can't take it easy here..." she said to her Queen sending him off to fight with the vaguest of warnings. "Of course you wouldn't understand, I guess you don't know about that manga about you. Whatever, kick butt out there Kagimi!" these were the words of encouragement from Maiko, which let everyone know that she obviously didn't take too personally the teasing nature of Izuna.

[Bloodedge]

"I did," was all Serde had to say in response to Cinder's question. Though he - much like the Knight he faced off against - seemed apathetic to most things, he had very thoroughly enjoyed his battle against the girl. Few and far between were his uses of Senkei, and since the girl he fought managed to walk away with her life, one could say many things about how Serde felt about her prowess.

The full roll of nine brought a smile to Sirtreize's face. This was one of two rolls he'd been waiting for. He hoped Eira would let loose the Red Dragon Emperor, but he knew better than that. Still, his plan remained the same. "Cin," he said. If she wouldn't send out her new Pawn, Eira only had two other options. Either of these things would work just fine, and he would send forth his wife to take on the challenge.

In the meantime, Takumi was being questioned during a strange moment which almost broke his state of hypnosis. With wide eyes, he turned his gaze on Miyuki. "Huh? I'm fine; why do you ask?" he replied. Izuna looked at this interaction with a cheeky grin, but he was chosen to participate before he could manage to poke at the matter further. "Hai! Watch me strut my stuff!" he said en route to the platform. Once he was standing upon the teleportation device, Eira warned that he could not have such an easygoing approach in this fight. Izuna's smile quickly faded, and he became still, not bothering to even look in Eira's direction or speak after her warning. A moment later though, he did turn around in a moment of shock, giving his attention to Maiko. "Wait, what manga!?" he asked, but he was sent to the battlefield immediately afterwards.

[Apollymi]

Serde's stoic answer, didn't much match all the action of the previous match. Of course, Cinder Fall had been part of this peerage for long enough to know what the man's behavior said about his feelings. She chuckled as it was mentioned by her husband that it would next be her turn to test the next generation. "It's about time, waiting was making me annoyed," she mentioned as she stood to enter the battlefield. Upon reaching the platform she was teleported to the chosen battlefield for this pair of individuals. It seemed to be a giant glass pyramid inverted so that the sun shone through the bottom of it, bathing the sky in a brilliant white rippling light from below. She looked around this battlefield and rolled her eyes with nothing at all to say as she crossed her hands over her chest.

After Cinder arrived to the battlefield, it seemed that Izuna lost a little of that jovial state of his, based on the warning of Eira. Eira could practically feel his smile fading, even though he didn't turn back around to speak to her. "Gambatte Izuna," she offered those words of encouragement only to watch as the young man's face turned finally, if only to question the manga. Maiko didn't answer and instead stuck her tongue out at him, willing to leave him waiting in agony for the answer to his question. "Yare yare, you guys are too much sometimes~" Eira said, but seemed fine just the same. Meanwhile Miyuki was left to explain, much to her own embarrassment while she thought to question Takumi's wellness. "I don't know, your hand twitched in a really weird way... I thought you might have been upset," the small girl offered with a rather intense blush on her face. It was a strange thing to try and explain, but she was almost certain he'd been upset however briefly the moment lasted.

[Bloodedge]

"It must have been a reflex," Takumi said, leaving it at that. In his present state, he hadn't even realized any movements he'd made moments ago. He was properly returned to the state of hypnosis he'd been in since meeting Sirtreize at the party, so any semblance of his innate reactions were lost to him.

Izuna appeared in a strange, inverted pyramid in what felt like an upside-down world. The battlefield itself held no importance to him, but the opponent he was faced with was indeed the Queen and wife of the Satan Lucifer, regarded as the strongest Queen of all. Izuna breathed in deeply, and exhaled his breath as a sigh. 'You should know better than that by now,' he thought, remembering the words Eira shared with him on his way out. Soon, an ethereal glow was enveloping him. When it dispersed, he was wearing traditional robes denoting his prior association with Kyoto. Just the same, his fox ears and single tail were visible, and his hair had grown just enough to feature a tiny ponytail just above his neck, in addition to its usual mess. Like this, he floated again, looking across the battlefield at his opponent to be. "Bored already?"

[Apollymi]

"Sou ka..." there was nothing else for Miyuki to say. The boy in his state of hypnosis didn't seem to realize what he'd done. And she supposed he likely wouldn't while he was like this. Still it seemed strange enough to her, considering he hadn't moved much at all since they'd arrived here. While this happened, Izuna found himself in the company of Cinder Fall, and Eira watched as he prepared himself for battle, and released a single tail as he did so. She sighed, knowing he would do this, but still holding out hope that one day, he'd change his mind. "Oh well, maybe one day..." she thought absently, seeming to not be bothered by this one way or another. True enough, Cinder Fall had the title of Strongest Queen, but Izuna could have that title himself if he wanted it, by Eira's own approximation. Given his unwillingness to use his full or true abilities, she had a more than reasonable understanding of how this fight would end. Even so, it'd be worth watching, and she could do nothing but respect the fox boy's wishes.

Cinder Fall eyed the battlefield and soon enough found herself standing before, Izuna. "Izuna, I hoped it'd be you," she said her eyes glowing with power even the designs on her dress seemed to be alight. "I'm always bored... though that last fight was worth watching. You're not going to disappoint are you?" she asked, raising her right hand and moving her fore and middle fingers towards herself, as if imploring this young man to show her what he had going for himself. Like the other members of Sirtreize's peerage she didn't seem to have any fear of this interaction. But unlike them, she didn't seem content to give this boy the first shot at her, in moving her fingers, she created a flame but just as soon as it appeared it disappeared, during into an orange dust which floated in the air. A smirk crossed her face and she snapped her fingers, causing a series of chain explosions which rapidly approached the fox boy before her aiming to engulf him in flames.

[Bloodedge]

"Gomen, gomen," Izuna stated to start his retort. "I'm always a disappointment." With that said, his continuous floating became more of a sway from one side to another. Cinder went on to prove her boredom, or perhaps even a lack of patience, being the first of Sirtreize's peerage to emerge with the first attack against her opponent. Izuna's eyes narrowed when it seemed she would be attacking him with fire, but the very flames she used disappeared in a way after forming. A snap of the woman's fingers turned the dust - which came as a result of her fire's disappearance - into a chain of explosions encroaching upon Eira's Queen. Izuna responded by extending his right forefinger, drawing a series of three symbols in the air not with his Demonic Power, but via a form of spellcraft known by Youkai. This energy appeared as a teal glow before the line of explosions appeared to phase right through the young male as if they were passing through water. His form returned to normal immediately afterwards, and a set of nine blue flames appeared at his backside. These fires boasted heat the likes of Dragon flames, and were sent in a series toward Cinder. Beyond this, though, another series of nine blue flames encroached upon her from behind. The image of Izuna where he originally floated was nothing more than an illusion spawned from Youjutsu at this point, though its flames were just as real as the ones approaching Cinder from behind, stemming from the physical - yet hidden by a separate illusion - Izuna.

[Apollymi]

"Oh? Are you normally such a downer, Izuna..." questioned Cinder Fall. She found this young man's explanation a bit lacking, but that was something to be dealt with at a later time. Right now, he'd launched a counter-attack which resulted in nine blue flames coming towards her from the front, launched by an illusory version of Izuna while the true Izuna seemed content to launch another nine from behind her. They would all converge upon her, in a moment and she didn't seem too concerned with moving out of the way of the coming flames. Instead she held out her hand, constructing a series of magical circles in all directions around herself, at the last possible moment. Doing so would let the flames get as close to her as possible before they were dispersed by the barriers she used. "So, you've got some different magic from the norm..." said Cinder as she held her hands together sparking electricity between them, before pressing them back together, doing so created a large purple crystal which she held up in the air as if inspecting her surroundings. As she turned her crystal she eyed her surroundings, deciding that Izuna used illusions made her simply want to away with the game of hide and seek they were playing. "I'm not fond of hide and seek," she mentioned casually as she flicked the crystal with her finger above her head doing so caused dust to spread from it, in an instant before she allowed a single spark to come from her finger. Doing so would cause the electrical energy to disperse from the crystal and the dust, making from the point of the crystal a large burst of blinding light, while sparks of electricity flew off in every direction around the crystal. Her aim of course, was to hit Izuna in his hidden state with this attack, which if it made contact with him would paralyze him.

[Bloodedge]

Izuna's methods were a simplistic method in his own repertoire, meant only to keep him out of harm's way while staging attacks against an obviously stronger force than he could manage against normally. His opening attack would see no fruition though, as Cinder erected an omni-directional defense that stopped even the flames sent toward her blind side. What came next was the claim that Cinder was not fond of the little game he decided to play, followed by a very different use of this strange substance she fought with. It first caused a bright flash which stunned the young Queen, but that was far from the worrisome aspect of it. Before he could recover from the temporary blindness, Izuna was made visible again by way of paralyzing electrocution which left him floating and convulsing in place several meters behind Cinder. "Not fair, not fair!"

[Apollymi]

Cinder waited for her attack to come to fruition and found a bit of amusement as the young man fell from his previous hiding space. The fact that her attack was deemed unfair by the lad now on the ground and paralyzed made her chuckle. "Kukuku~ Sure... because being invisible, hiding in people blind-spots while attacking, and using illusions is fair," managed the ashen haired woman as she finally turned around to face the boy on the floor. "Surely you realize what this is by now," said the woman whose lack of patience was far more ingrained into her person than one might have thought. "So, what do you do when your tricks won't get you past something? Is what I want to know..." she said, being strangely straightforward about what she wished to see here. Curiously enough this entire Rating Game seemed to be about the fitness of Eira's peerage. Given this, Cinder Fall basically just wanted to see what her Queen had going for him. Obviously, she'd prefer to see this at its maximum output, but if that wasn't possible, she'd be satisfied by a show of skill. She simply wanted to see something that made sense of the sort of pair Eira and her Queen were rumored to be. As such, she waited for the paralyzing effect of her magic to subside and for this boy to do something.

Meanwhile, the crimson-haired lass had slowly inched towards the edge of her seat, watching as Izuna faced Cinder Fall. This was obviously one of the most troublesome of the match ups, and obviously one she worried for. She knew Izuna to be much better than he presented himself, but, even the stuff he did was well beyond the norm. She sat watching with narrow crimson eyes, hoping for something as well, if not a full show of his power, then at least something to satisfy the curiosity of her sister-in-law. 'Yare yare, my little fox boy causes me so much anxiety...' she thought. Even knowing this, Eira wouldn't have traded this lad for another, they'd been through too much together and still had so much farther to go.

[Bloodedge]

Even whilst paralyzed, Izuna retained access to his magical abilities. As such, he used the time of his brief chat with Cinder to coat himself in yet another illusion to show the appearance of him remaining paralyzed. It was during this time that Izuna resorted to an ability known as Touki, accessible to him via Senjutsu mastery. Beneath the illusion he'd made, he coated himself in an aura of his own life force to break free of paralysis earlier than he normally would have. His devious nature as a fox Youkai showed itself - or rather, didn't - then, as he invisibly crept to Cinder's rear again, leaving the image of his paralyzed self behind. His movements made no sound, and his true self was capable of being sensed by few. From right behind Cinder, he raised his right hand over her head, palm facing downwards. It would seem then, as if a great mass of blue flames hotter than Dragon fire were erupting from right above Cinder, cascading down to envelop her in its extreme heat.

[Apollymi]

Cinder kept looking at Izuna on the ground, even after he'd freed himself. She already realized the boy enjoyed illusions and attacking blind spots, but she didn't know about his use of Senjutsu, nor his complete silence. So, she had a general expectation of the amount of time it would take him to free himself. As she stood seemingly open, Izuna created a Fox Fire Ball above her head, and unleashed it. She felt intense flames, before her amber eyes closed seemingly annoyed. Strangely enough, she didn't move or actively stop this fire as it rained down. Instead the dust connected to her clothing seemed to spark to life, outward from person faster than she would have had to react. The orange flames seemed to create an active burn around herself, keeping the flames from encroaching upon her. "You can't do the same thing twice. Though, you did get up faster than I expected..." she said thinking about it further. "That fire was also stronger than I expected. A bit hotter than Shira's actually..." she said knowing it probably wouldn't be obvious why that was something special. "But you're Queen, so... diversity," she stated as the flames died down they turned back into dust, but instead of reattaching to her clothing she held out her hands, creating what appeared to be two moorish scimitars. She pivoted, quickly... and moved with the speed and precision of a knight as she aimed to slice at the air before Izuna, downward with the right blade. Doing so created black dust, which she ran her left blade upward. The contact would cause a gravitational explosion between the pair, without her ever having to actually cut Izuna as she prepared to knock him away with the concussive blast created by the weapons.

[Bloodedge]

Cinder spoke of Izuna repeating tactics, but the former Youkai had other things in mind. He had no clue who this "Shira" person was, or why it was notable that his flames were hotter than theirs, but that didn't matter at present either. If it was diversity Cinder expected, Izuna was already en route to showcasing it. Izuna's use of Touki while invisible did more than allow him to break free of paralysis; it also generally amplified his strength, durability and speed in a manner comparable to invoking the Queen Evil Piece. Using this power, he was nimble enough to zip around Cinder's slash in an opposing arc, quickly enough that he was able to avoid the concussive burst of gravity produced by her dust this time.

Izuna knew he was outmatched as a Queen, and as a fighter in general. Perhaps things could have been different by now if he'd ever committed to using the strengths he was born with, but he dreaded the day he would be forced to do such a thing. Still, he had a trick up his sleeve that would get him as close to maximum power as he could manage without some grand reveal. His Touki was as much of a boon - if not more - as his Queen piece in its ability to augment everything he could do in combat. But... he could easily use both, and that was exactly what he chose to do against an opponent of Cinder's caliber. With his Touki still active, he invoked the Rook trait of his Evil Piece - while also coating his fists in fox fire to guard his hand against the burning defense Cinder previously used - as he threw his entire body into a right jab toward the woman's lower back. "Diversity? I'm a fox. You get what you get when I give it to ya'," he spoke, continuing to maintain his invisibility utilized when he was under state of paralysis.

[Apollymi]

Cinder was confused by the lack of physical contact and an obvious avoidance of her magic. The invisible fox child seemed to really enjoy his privacy. Even while in fights, which was something of a problem. In response to this issue, Cinder rubbed the two blades she held together, spreading dust across the battlefield and immediately around her person as well. As she did this dust of an almost lavender color seemed take up residence. There was also the matter of the hit aimed her way, but Izuna was kind of predictable in his attack pattern and as such she expected some kind of attack from her rear. At the point where she was still playing a strange game of hide and seek with Eira's Queen, Cinder decided it was best to ready herself. She focused her Rook Trait solely on her physical defense, and within a few seconds, she felt the full weight of a fist covered in flames upon her. And though her own flaming defense was enough to cancel the flames. His hit rocketed her forward, but a large grin crossed her face. But she did nothing else, her body would simply roll further forward in a sea of this pale dust, which was surprisingly undisturbed by the fire used by the pair of them. "Ouch... that actually stung a bit," she mentioned as her body came to a stop righted but not bothering to try and visually place this boy.

[Bloodedge]

Cinder was repelled by Izuna's flaming fist, yet whatever sort of fire she created around her managed to snuff out his own flames again. He wasn't going to bother trying to figure out the specifics of this, but now that he'd created some distance, the invisible Kitsune stood his ground with his Touki intact. His right hand, already extended, opened to point its palm toward Cinder from afar. He avoided yet another use of fire. This time, he focused pure Senjutsu - his life energy itself - into a blast of pure concussive damage at Cinder's head. Like Izuna, this blast was also invisible. Such a thing normally would have been channeled through a melee attack, or at least close-range, but Izuna creating the amount of distance he did while staying invisible left him enough time to focus on compressing his ki, and thus making it capable of travelling at a greater range. Cinder had made the claim that his previous attack stung, but Izuna knew better than to stop at that level of offense.

[Apollymi]

Now that there was a considerable amount of space between her and her opponent, Cinder, took the two ends of her blades and slammed them together. The end result was something which looked a bit like a glass bow, but with no foreseeable string or method of usage. She didn't do anything about this immediately but instead remained focusing her eyes specifically upon the Dust all over this place. There was a rather sudden disturbance of it as she looked and she wouldn't be able to avoid it given the speed. Instead she decided to take this hit as it knocked her head around she spun in the circle and knocked her body back once more. "Ugh, that's a headache," she said with one of her eyes closed, but this was so she could see the where the disturbance in the dust led to. Doing so while holding her head with her unoccupied hand, she created within it, a broad head arrow, made of gravitational Dust. She'd quickly draw the bow and fire the arrow, seemingly at nothing well behind Izuna, but doing so as it floated through the air, it disturbed all the other dust. The lavender dust, was a combination of ice and lightning, and together they'd create a freezing pulse of electrical energy meant to make Izuna visible and freeze him in place, while the explosion of the gravity dust arrow behind him would send him rocketing towards Cinder. Given the strange sturdiness of the fox boy, Cinder wasn't all together sure this would work. But for her it'd be worth it to quickly figure how where he was and temporarily stop this game of hide and seek.

[Bloodedge]

Izuna suddenly realized he was late to catch up on something. His ki blast traveled toward its intended goal without interruption, but the blast itself interrupted the dust Cinder had left behind. He was remiss to think she was now using a method of her own creation to discover his whereabouts, even whilst he remained invisible. 'Ah, shit. I only went and screwed myself over with tunnel vision,' he thought. Whatever he was going to do, he had to act fast, as Cinder undoubtedly knew where to attack now. Anywhere he moved to hastily would give away his new position, but there was perhaps one thing he could do. Cinder had made it apparent that she would be attacking with some kind of arrow, so he figured it would be coming in his exact direction. With this assumption in mind, he steadied himself at ground level and let his Touki flare outward. It was taxing, but he cleared an area of a few meters around him, allowing him the freedom to leave an image of himself where he stood while backing up. Due to his clearing of the dust nearby, the ice and electricity from Cinder's arrow did not affect him, though it was strange that the arrow itself wasn't aimed directly at him. He'd expected to erect some sort of defense while making it look like he'd taken the hit, but there was instead an explosion of the arrow with a force of gravity leading toward Cinder as a result.

The moment he felt this gravity, Izuna knew his initial plan was null. He had to come up with something else, and the idea that came to him was the only one worthwhile. He pushed his Touki forward, extending it to the area around the illusion of him while moving it ahead at the same pace he was being forced to move. In doing this, he happened to also trigger the freezing and electrified dust, and had to force this to show as a reaction in the illusion. By the time his illusion reached Cinder, his final effort was to give it the appearance of being taken by the retirement system, while Izuna himself fell just shy of its location, exhausted of almost all his energy from the efforts he made alone. Still, he managed to retain his invisibility. While he still had something - anything - left to offer, he reached out with the intention of grabbing Cinder by her choker. If he did not manage this, he was likely to collapse on the spot. If he did manage it, however, he would make himself visible to offer a single statement while conjuring an explosion of fox fire from the hand which reached out. "Oi... I got you, right?"

[Apollymi]

It seemed Cinder Fall's plan had worked out, giving her knowledge of where the young man was. She couldn't know the things going through his mind, but she could know that she was soon to make contact with him. Strangely enough, her layered attack seemed to work exactly as she planned. She didn't have anything negative to say about the boy, he seemed to lack power but she could at least respect his resourcefulness as he faded due to the Retiring System, or so she thought. The normal green light that would have caused him to fade, instead led to a pull on the choker around her neck, her left brow raised and those glowing eyes of hers widened in astonishment as the young man spoke to her once more. He'd figured her out, enough to at least know that he had to be point blank to harm her, and even more so than that, she couldn't mount a defense quickly enough to forego simply taking the Fox Fire explosion from his conjured hand. Her face and neck would burn momentarily as she tried to back away, swatting at this boy. "Fucking brat!" she said. Though if she was being fair, he'd performed way better than she'd expected, actually even managing to get that close to her was a feat in and of itself. Whatever happened to this young man from this moment forward, he at the very least had the respect of the Strongest Queen.

Eira watched on the edge of her seat, and finally at the end of Izuna's last stand fell back against the chair. She was actually impressed as well, given he'd gone so hard not to reveal the depth of his actual power. The fact that he'd managed to get one up on Cinder Fall, even a small one, said much about his abilities and his understanding of his skills. "Sugoi!~ Izuna, you did so well~" she chimed. She couldn't wait to have her full peerage back so that she could cuddle them all for their efforts this day. She hadn't been disappointed yet, even though she could have done with Izuna showing off a bit more. She supposed he'd satisfied her need to see him work in a different way that suited his own needs, which she could only enjoy of him as a person.

[Bloodedge]

"Eheh... yeah. I got ya'," Izuna said with a weak smile for the Queen of Sirtreize, just before he was swatted away from her and his own explosive attack. He fell back, but the retiring system took him before he even hit the ground. Maybe he could have done more, had he used his true form. Not doing so had forced him to use Touki at a ridiculous level just to compete with this woman. Izuna had yet to become capable of using Touki and manipulating his own life energy at such a level, and had virtually placed himself in a near-death state when he could have seen a proper battle otherwise. After the retirement system took the boy, Cinder would be teleported back as well. Sirtreize would take a moment to speak only then. "Like I said. They could destroy themselves at any moment," he said, wasting no further time before dropping his own die into the bowl. This time, the number Sirtreize produced was...

6

Szavelneas hesitated from the announcer's stands, realizing one of two dice had already been rolled, and they'd yet to even comment on the battle. "Ladies and gentlemen, it seems one of our participants is all out of patience. I'm sure our audience can agree; the two most recent matches have been more exciting than we could normally expect from a scrimmage game!"

[Apollymi]

"Tricky Foxboy," Cinder's eyes cut in his direction as he retired offering her that weak smile. Even she had to admit, his tactics made her think and that wasn't something she often had to do. As she was teleported back to the hub she belonged in, she was confronted by the words of her husband and she found herself shrugging casually as she went to retake her seat. "I don't know about all of that, but at least he'd take someone out with him. Deplorable tactic, but... I can't fault it," she said as she relaxed back where she had been the first time.

Meanwhile, Eira stood as well, going to roll her own die and feeling just as antsy as everyone else for these matches to see their true conclusion. She tossed the die and stared at it in the bowl. It landed flat, in a way which made Eira's eyes narrow.

2

"Impatient doesn't seem to cover it, but I can't blame them. These matches are building up and I can only imagine what will happen next!~" Elsa commented only to see that now both dice had been rolled so they had a set of numbers to announce. "Looks like the total is eight! Kings send out your next pieces," were the words of Satan Leviathan. Eira turned around to the remaining members of her peerage looking them over. It was more than obvious this was a test for everyone. She could either send out both Miyuki and Maiko. Or... she could send Takumi out alone. Her eyes traveled over the still hypnotized boy and back to her newest Bishop. And in this moment, Eira would strangely make a selfish decision but not one which anyone would argue about. "Maiko and Miyuki, you can both go~ I didn't want to send either of you alone really, Gambatte!" she said to the pair of them. Maiko slammed a fist into her open palm and grinned. "Hell yes! I've been waiting forever!~" said Maiko seemingly excited to even get to go. "Language, Maiko~" teased Eira who really didn't have much, if any, room to talk about the girl's word choice. Miyuki finally extricated herself from Takumi and nodded. "H-hai! I'll do my best!~" she chimed making her way to the platform with Maiko who was now, putting on those red leather gloves she'd had in her possession since before the matches.

[Bloodedge]

Sirtreize's view of the total roll brought a cheeky grin to his face. There was one thing he hoped to see in this battle, but thought he wouldn't see quite yet regardless. Either way, Eira only had three true options for this roll. She could send herself and risk cutting the rest of her peerage out, or... she could see to the growth opportunity for her members, and send either the Red Dragon Emperor she'd so recently acquired, or the other remaining members. Given Sirtreize's understanding of how Eira acquired the Red Dragon, he wondered how far she would go. Perhaps it was only sensible for him to make one move that would answer either decision. "Revil. Zekrom." Following his order, a young male with crimson hair belonging to the Gremory family rose. The other individual to step onto the teleportation platform was a slender woman with long, black hair worn in pigtails on either side of her head, in an outfit designed similarly to a maid. When they both stepped up, the woman placed her hand upon the boy's head and smiled, as two pairs of crimson eyes met one another. They would be sent out within moments to a battlefield that was a simple grass field in the center of a forest.

In the meantime, Takumi witnessed the roll as well. He, too, wondered if he would be sent forth now that a number exactly matching his count was given. Alas, it was not to be this time either. On the other hand, he had fought alongside Miyuki, and fought against Maiko briefly. He could see a few potential strengths in the two working together, and wondered if this was a reason for their pairing. He would speak up once they were sent to the battle. "Do they have some combination strategy? Is that why you saved them both?"

[Apollymi]

An eye roll came from Cinder Fall as her husband grinned like a madman. Whatever he thought was to come of this, he'd be sending out his own son, and a certain maid of their household. A chuckle came from the raven haired woman. "Have fun, Revil~" she said to the lad who had his father's crimson hair. Meanwhile, both Miyuki and Maiko were teleported to the open field in the forest as well. Maiko had pulled on both of her gloves and seemed to be bouncing on her toes, happily. "Eh, Eira-sama sent us out together, so... if you come up with something and you want me to help you out... I got ya'," she offered to Miyuki, with an extended fist. This girl had been a bit sheltered by Eira herself since coming to their group. She'd only recently started coming to school, but she knew the girl was capable of creating spells on the spot and strategies to work with. She didn't know the full breadth of Miyuki's powers, but figured she'd offer her physical strength to assist the mage. "Hai, I don't want to disappoint. So I'll help out whatever way I can," she said meeting the fist extended to her in a gentle tap which sent a cold burst through the hand of Maiko. "Yo! I've been waiting for this all day, who's trying to box?" Maiko asked of this pair of individuals, but while looking between the two she could decide which one she would be fighting.

Meanwhile, in the hub on Eira's side, she was left alone with Takumi. He asked about the combination of Miyuki and Maiko wondering if they had some sort of combination that would make them a force to be reckoned with while out together. She supposed she hadn't considered she'd be explaining herself this day, but could do so without much of a problem. "Iie," she said before offering a bit of a grin. "Or rather, if they do I don't know about it yet. Miyuki isn't very old in my peerage yet. I've kind of been keeping her to myself. Everyone else, doesn't really know why she's so skiddish yet, but when they find out, they'll understand," she commented unsure of what kinds of conversation Takumi and Miyuki had been getting into while they were together. "Miyuki's pretty decent at strategy and will be able to offer Maiko some novel ways to use her Artificial Sacred Gear," she said knowing how the personalities of these two individuals worked. "And with any luck, Maiko will be able to pull Miyuki the rest of the way out of her shell, which will help her magical abilities and her confidence," she said. "This Rating Game is a controlled environment for the assessment and growth of my Peerage, I would have been remiss to go out myself, though I considered it briefly, and I couldn't just send you out right now either..." she said without further expressing why she'd decided not to send Takumi. There were many reasons for this, but when it came right down to it, Eira simply wasn't ready yet to send out the Red Dragon Emperor.

[Bloodedge]

The answer Takumi was given was one which explained that Maiko and Miyuki did not possess any developed synergy with one another. He could understand why Eira sent both girls simultaneously, as it would increase whatever chance of victory they had if there were two... but he had expected his own opportunity to come here and now. "Ah... sou ka," he said, clenching his left fist over his left knee. The boy's eyes flashed orange again to show another hiccup in Sirtreize's hypnosis. He could only think there was surely something he'd be able to accomplish when his time came.

Of the two sent from Sirtreize's peerage, the teen Devil Sairevil was the first to step forward. Maiko was quick to announce her willingness to fight, and he had been instructed to go forth in the same way. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Matsui-san. I'll fight you. Pegasus Cloth!" At his words, a crystal worn around the boy's neck shone with a bright light. The disappearance of this light revealed Sairevil clad in a full-body armor suit whose white form fit his body like a glove. Larger versions of the original gem were present on his chest, knees and elbows, as well as the back of each hand. The crystals glowed as he took off hastily toward Maiko, aiming a straight-forward right uppercut at her chin when he reached striking distance. "Oh, Revil-sama... where did all this aggression come from?" the black-haired woman nearby wondered aloud.

[Apollymi]

A smile came to Eira's face, and since she was looking towards Takumi she saw the slight shift in her brother's hypnosis. "Don't worry, Takumi~" she chimed thinking about it a little bit more. "I decided it was best to save you for last. A good finale to this game... which seems to be as much about impressing the crowds as is it about impressing my brother," mentioned Eira. She did decide to keep this young man here, for the same reason she'd avoided going out herself. Because he was likely to be the attention grabber of the entire situation. But, he hadn't chosen this life, and as such she was a bit resistant to making him go out just because she needed him to. She'd only had him a couple of days, and as such she didn't know how he felt about all of this. His willingness to work for her, was one thing... but she didn't want to force him into this world, especially given his reaction during his first go in a Rating Game. She worried for him, likely a bit more than she should.

"Atta boy, Gremory~" Maiko bounced on her toes and waited, as she knew the young man was coming. And what an opener he had as he came close enough to launch an uppercut, her body tucked downward and slightly to his left as she swung her right hand directly into his ribs of his being, with the force of the enhanced strength of her Rook trait. She seemed to be ready for his attack, and if anything excited by his aggressiveness. "G-Gr-Gremory?" there was a massive bit of confusion on behalf of Miyuki who had yet to meet this lad or any in his family aside from Eira until this day. "I feel like I'm missing something... is he normally not that aggressive? Mai-senpai is always like that," she said with a curt nod. Still, Miyuki was a shy girl.

Strangely enough, Eira's eyes went back to the fight and she sighed. "Right, I didn't get the chance to introduce them... I really might be rude," she said aloud shaming herself for this missing opportunity. She knew that such things would or could be taken care of at a later point in time. Irrespective of this she leaned back and observed her hands clasped together in her lap and legs crossed at the ankles with near perfect posture as she always tended to sit.

[Bloodedge]

Sairevil had his uppercut ducked, but he was not deterred by this; it was simply to be expected in a close-quarters battle that such a thing could always happen. What he new as a result of this, was that some form of counter-attack was likely to come from the openings he left behind. As such, he focused his own Rook trait on defense to reduce the blow to the impact of a normal punch. As his body curled over from said punch, Sairevil raised his left fist and aimed a hook punch toward the right side of Maiko's face.

The woman named Zekrom who accompanied Sairevil was content to stand by and watch from the sidelines of the ongoing fight. She knew why she'd been sent here, and it was not related to the little boxing match she was now watching. It seemed for a moment as if the other girl here was not yet keen on battling either, at least until she addressed her own confusion. "Sairevil Gremory is the firstborn son of Sirtreize Lucifer and Cinder Fall. I believe that makes him your master's nephew, and no... he's not always that aggressive. What of you, girl? You don't seem too aggressive yourself."

[Apollymi]

Much to her surprise, Sairevil wasn't toppled by the blow he took. But considering is placement akin to hers, Maiko could make some assumptions about why this was. His follow up attack was as powerful as ever, and she too, didn't have time to move out of the way of it and took a hook shot to the face and was sent flying, though she seemed to have no problem righting herself afterwards. She stood rolling her shoulders and rubbing the side of her face, "That's a good hit... I'm happy Eira-sama sent me out. This is the best!~" she chimed seemingly happy with her match up enough that she didn't mind she was now here.

Miyuki to the contrary seemed to be a bit stunned. This woman before her seemed to be less interested in what was going on here than even Miyuki. Though this was about the fight Miyuki expected to see with Maiko involved, she didn't expect to find out that the more senior member of the peerage she was apart of, was fighting against the nephew of their master. "Sugoi, Eira-nee's nephew," Miyuki seemed stunned by this information and given what this other woman had to say, found it strange that the lad was normally less wound up. About her, there was only a little Miyuki could manage to say. "S-su-sumimasen, Ryuume Miyuki. Nice to meet you," she mentioned, "And no I don't usually start fights..." she said, and sure enough, it wasn't in Miyuki's nature for her to be the aggressor in such situations. "But... I did promise to do my best," the young woman said with this in mind she held out her hand before her, willing a magic circle to appear which would shoot off several ice crystals in the direction of the maid, aiming to make contact with the woman and pierce and freeze her simultaneously.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai," Sairevil said as his posture righted. "I was hoping I'd get to fight you, if not that Dragon Emperor." For whatever reason, Sairevil fully intended to fight what he expected to be one of the more physically intimidating presences of Eira's peerage. His exact reason for this was not one he intended to reveal, or rather... it was one he was told not to mention. For now, he held out his left hand toward Maiko, using it to beckon her toward him.

Zekrom was content to have a casual chat with Miyuki while Sairevil had his fight. She would have gone on to test Miyuki after either eliminating Maiko, or leaving Sairevil on the sidelines depending on who emerged the victor. However, Zekrom's words toward the young Bishop sparked something in the girl which caused her to attack. Zekrom sighed as she saw the magic circle appear before Miyuki, and raised her left forefinger to produce a magic circle of her own. When the ice shards made contact with this circle, they shattered against it. Zekrom waited until this barrage was over, and spun her finger around her own magic circle to create a mass of lightning which arced outward from the circle, then inward toward Miyuki's core as the multitude of bolts approached her.

[Apollymi]

"Yasukawa?" she questioned the other person this lad wanted to fight. "He's a good fight too~ He has strong fists!" Maiko said of Takumi, which was likely one of the highest rated compliments the raven haired girl would ever give. She was beckoned towards this lad and found herself grinning rotating her shoulders and bouncing on her toes. She got ready before she rushed this young man. Upon getting within striking distance, she performed a spinning kick clockwise towards the center of his being. She'd recently begun developing some extra fighting skills and now she was as comfortable with her kicks as she was with her punches.

"Sugoi!" it seemed that Miyuki was rather suddenly excited. The use of a barrier to block her ice, and the attack which followed led her to believe that she was right to assume this woman was also a Bishop. Strange as it might have been, Miyuki found herself shifting her hand after her barrage stopped and making barriers around herself. In doing this, she layered them with ice magic, which flowed naturally from her person without the use of magic circles. When the electrical attack of this maid had contact with all of the barriers, it created an even stronger defense trapping the lightning between it, and forcing it through channels of ice created between barriers which shattered bit by bit. This left her with a decent sized dome of ice around her but no damage from the electrical attack. She understood the magic in theory but it was way stronger than she could have handled without the ice. "I was curious about why you weren't attacking... If I hadn't put ice in that, my barriers would have shattered immediately!" exclaimed Miyuki, who was strangely cautious when being the one to start attacking. "Yo...yo...you're really strong!" the girl seemed to be excited. When the lightning subsided the barrier cracked before exploding outward causing a mass of snowfall around the pair of them. Upon thinking about this, Miyuki realized it was likely impossible for her to beat this woman standing before her in any kind of straight forward way. As the snow continued to fall, she held her hand before herself but instead of casting an offensive spell, she created within her grasp the white sword she'd developed from training with Youmu. She used it to immediately stab into the ground, causing the falling snow to condense with added ice, which she intended to have grow beneath the maid, with no obvious effect except to grow it outward.

[Bloodedge]

"He has a name?" Sairevil asked. Since he had been told of the Red Dragon Emperor, he had only heard that very name. Never did he even think to ask his father the given name or surname of the Pawn in question, but that was simply something overshadowed in his mind by other thoughts. Whatever the case, his thoughts now had to be consumed by the fight at hand. Otherwise, he was under the impression that he could actually fall to his opponent. When Maiko decided to answer his beckoning, he prepared himself defensively to counterattack. Much to his chagrin, none of the punches he had begun anticipating occurred; Maiko instead spun clockwise to kick at him. His guard was too high, and his right side was left open as a result. Needless to say, Maiko's shin found its home in Sairevil's side, and he was launched toward his left. This movement threw him into the fray of the other battle, right between Zekrom and Miyuki. "Waka. Do you need assistance?" the raven-haired woman asked as Sairevil picked himself off the ground. "Hngh... Iie. I was taken by surprise, is all," he said while darting away from their battle, back toward his own. This time, Sairevil stopped before reaching attack range, and began stretching his arms. "Gomennasai. I looked down on you."

Zekrom sighed, finding it some level of bothersome that the youngest Gremory had put himself in such a situation. She apparently cared more about the other battle here than she did her own, as her gaze hardly found Miyuki, until the girl spoke to her directly. "Of course I'm strong," she said whilst crossing her arms and staring down the stammering girl. "I am a clergy of Sirtreize Lucifer. I could have shattered your little barrier with its ice, but I'm being generous and letting you figure out how you're going to put on a show." As she spoke, Zekrom found herself looking toward the ground at the ice formed by Miyuki. Clearly, it was making its way across the ground to Zekrom herself, but she seemed more interested in finding out what would happen as a result of this, than she did in whether it would actually be problematic or not.

[Apollymi]

"Yeah?! Of course he has a name. No one is named, Dragon Emperor..." Maiko said, seemingly surprised by the idea that this boy hadn't already realized that Takumi would have to have a proper name. She only had this extra bit of speech after having her shin connect with the midsection of her Master's Nephew. Having completed this manuever she watched as he tumbled into range of the other battle. "Gomen Ryuume, I didn't know he'd go that far," Maiko said in offering to her younger friend in her own peerage. Maiko managed to go wide eyed, watching as another tumbled between herself and her chosen opponent. "Iie, it's not a big deal, Mai-senpai." she managed thinking it strange. Maiko herself was soon confronted by Sairevil who gathered himself after admitting that he didn't require assistance. He turned to Maiko and admitted to looking down on her, which made her chuckle. "Well, that's stupid, and how you get your ass kicked. I thought you guys were supposed to be showing us how it's done and all... So I'll forgive as long as it doesn't happen again," said Maiko who raised a hand to the lad and motioned him towards herself. Of course, she was also keeping an eye on Miyuki in case the girl needed some assistance, but she wouldn't exactly interfere if the girl didn't ask her to.

Miyuki on the other hand got introduced to a level of arrogance she didn't think she'd ever encountered before. This being introduced herself as a Bishop of Sirtreize and went on to say she could have shattered Miyuki's barrier but was instead waiting on her to give a proper show. "Sugoi, you're so sure of that, it's awesome!" the girl said. She took this woman's words to mean that she wouldn't actually do much if anything about the things she did. Even so, she still decided to test this just a little more, Miyuki was far too cautious to trust her first instinct, and lacked the confidence of a person used to leading the tides of battle. She gave it only a second more of thought before, she turned her blade against the ground. The ice below this maid, would immediately spring up, but a quick slashing motion of the blade after it raised would follow. The dual action would cause the woman's body to freeze from below, while a white circle way larger shot straight up into the sky in a column of instantaneous freezing. Once it reached the sky, it would break, taking the maid with it.

[Bloodedge]

"But he's a Dragon. They normally like being called by their title, if they have one," was Sairevil's retort. Apparently, the son of Sirtreize and Cinder knew some Dragons personally. In no way was he aware that the likelihood of Eira's newer members knowing Dragons was low, but then again, he wasn't even sure if Eira herself knew the ones he did. Maybe she did know, but that was of little importance. There was every chance that Eira's members that were presently fighting would understand what he meant soon enough. Without further ado, Sairevil brought his arm stretches to an end, and drew back his right fist. A forward punch was nowhere near close enough to strike Maiko, but Sairevil performing a few hundred punches in the blink of an eye allowed him to launch from his fist many blasts of light - spawned from the crystal on the hand of his armor - like a rapid-fire shotgun to fill the entire area surrounding Maiko. It was Sairevil's aim to strike her with a Devil's most common weakness, while keeping his attack's spread great enough to deal with even wide dodges.

Zekrom's left brow rose. The girl she had to face was very odd; she'd never imagined an opponent would be so excited by something as simple as confidence. Whatever sort of background this young Bishop had, Zekrom obviously couldn't compare. Regardless, she would soon be able to see for herself what Miyuki had to offer. The ice previously sent toward her via the ground spawned a freezing pillar that seemed to reach the heavens themselves. Zekrom was frozen with her eyes toward the sky. Merely a second later, though, the pillar of ice around her shattered, though by no means other than Zekrom moving her body from within it. For just a few moments, her frosty skin seemed slightly... scaly. She exhaled a mist that consisted only of chilled saliva, then spoke. "Kawaii~" she said as her face flushed with the returning warmth of her body. At last, there was a smile upon her face. "In maybe a few years, something like that would push me into a corner. Was that the height of your ability?"

[Apollymi]

There was much confusion in Maiko in this moment. "Well, Yasukawa, isn't exactly a straight up dragon... but I guess, I'll ask him what he wants to be called," Maiko said thinking about it. She tried to be a nice person but she didn't know the intricacies of dragons herself or anything like that. Regardless of her current state of confusion, there was a very real attack on the way to her person. She initially was going to use something different, and opened up her hand to use Reverse Magic to counter the singular fist she thought was coming. But... she was soon hit, hard enough that she erected the shield which was her Twinkle Aegis. The light shield created by the Artificial Sacred Gear she held, was enough to defend but she was being pushed back with no real hope of trying to counter-attack. Her would have been use of magic, put on hold while, she tried to think of a way to make it happen, without being bombarded by light.

Meanwhile, Miyuki gave a moment of hesitation before averting her gaze to witness the exchange between Maiko and Sairevil. She watched as Maiko tried to step outside of her comfort zone and had her hopes dashed in just a few seconds, but her eyes widened as she had an idea. Before she could voice it though, the cracking of the ice pillar alerted her to a change in things. Surprisingly, it wasn't what she'd come to expect of the move combination she'd used. Instead this woman, now slightly scaly with saliva mist from her mouth, was smiling and appreciating the attack just launched by Miyuki. 'I... used that on someone today... and they were retired. I used it here, and she's fine. I really am weak...' it seemed that Miyuki was shaken up a bit. "You...you... you're a dragon?!" she concluded surprised by this information. Dragons were strong, and she wasn't strong like the rest of her species there wasn't much she could hope to do about this and she knew it. "It's the most I can do like this..." she said sadly. Her own experience, led her to believe that the form she could take as a Yuki-onna didn't measure up enough to be useful. If her work as a devil wasn't enough, why should her lesser self from before make much if any of a difference? And while this happened Eira watched with wide eyes. "Come on you two, I know you've both got something else..." said Eira aloud and mostly to herself. As Miyuki's creator she knew about the girl's Yuki-Onna form, and given how the other Youkai in her peerage worked she knew it could help the girl immensely. She also knew that an expansion to the magical abilities of Maiko could help her more adequately deal with things against the more magically capable. The pair of them had inverted problems and all Eira had left was to wonder if they could fix each other.

"Oi oi, don't sound like that," Maiko managed as she started draining her own energy to try and push back against the barrage with her legs and her shield in front of her. "Sometimes you just gotta use your body to get it done!" Maiko finished up. She couldn't trust the strength of her magic alone, so she added her own physical strength to it. Miyuki looked up with wide eyes sparkling with frozen tears. "Sugoi! Mai-senpai is like that too..." she thought, seeing the girl without her own real use of magic, try her hardest to push back against a magical barrage with just her physical powers. "Mai-senpai... sometimes just forcing your body won't work... if you run that magic through your shield you can use it better... like the increased reach I get with my sword," offered Miyuki which made Maiko's eyes widen drastically. "Fuck, that's such a good idea." Maiko concluded, as her shield began to glow with her hands against, it. She forced Reverse Magic through it, and aimed to send the white light balls back towards Sairevil, with the strange addition of it turning the balls into Devil type magic instead, and giving her the freedom to move forward quickly. And with this something strange would happen.

A cold wind kicked up around Miyuki, "I can try something else. It's not really impressive, but it's the best I can do with my body..." the girl mentioned. As the cold settled upon her, her hair changed from black to white. Her body seemed to freeze, becoming like marble with her violet eyes standing out even more. She exhaled and ice crystals were created by her breath every footfall was marked by ice, and the cold seemed to become something felt by all.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai~" Zekrom said excitedly as her gloved right hand rubbed against the side of her face. She was quite pleased now; gone was the apathetic nature of this Bishop from moments ago. Miyuki had even pinned her for a Dragon, which was an advancement she hadn't figured she'd be revealing at this point in the match. "I am Zekrom, the Deep Black Dragon, and Bishop to Sirtreize Lucifer." With that said, Zekrom began to coat the entirety of her right arm in lightning, preparing to bring an end to this if necessary. Miyuki, however, had something else to offer. She revealed her identity in a roundabout way. The power she wielded to create such a form as what she soon emerged with was that of a Yuki-onna, without question... but the form itself was far from the norm. "You're a Yeti? Strange. You look far more human than the rest of your species," she commented. Even so, it could not have been more apparent to Zekrom now what sort of power this girl wielded. The only thing in question was why her appearance matched myth more than reality.

Sairevil's opponent was also becoming a new form of challenge. Her sacred gear provided limited defense against Sairevil's unorthodox light attacks, but an exchange between the two girls of Eira's peerage led to her adding a special form of magic to it, changing Sairevil's attack to one of Demonic Power while throwing it back his way. Sairevil's eyes widened, and he was forced into moving to and fro in a way that allowed him to attack the altered forms of his own blasts, while doing everything he could to also dodge those he couldn't reach with his fists.

[Apollymi]

"KAWAII!~ That's what I like to see. Maiko has Revil on the run~ My cute little Youkai being herself~ Atta girl, Mi-yu-ki~ And way to go Maiko~" chimed Eira as she watched in astonishment as the small girl took the form she'd always known her to be capable. Of course, this likely didn't undo the years of doubt caused by her living among the rest of her people while they ostricized her, but it did a world of good for the small girl.

Miyuki herself was soon enough given a strange bit of speech by the Deep Black Dragon of Sirtreize's Peerage, who seemed more than a bit amused that she'd been properly identified. "Sugoi! It's nice to meet you, Zekrom-nee!" Miyuki still seemed a bit confused, and in her present form she felt infinitely comfortable, like she could feel all the magic she had in her body pouring outward. To the point that she didn't look like most of her species, Miyuki nodded, ice crystals shifting around her face and causing dust while this happened. "Iie, I don't look like them. Or rather... I only look like them when they are young... adult Yeti probably look more like what you are thinking of, but I... I won't ever be like that," Miyuki said, explaining lightly the difference this person probably saw from what they knew. This was likely at least partly the reason for Miyuki's personal complex, as she was raised to believe her form was wrong. "I'm locked into this form, even though I'm well into adulthood..." Miyuki managed to say. Maiko looked to the side with wide eyes, "You're a cute snow Youkai?!" she asked unreasonably shocked by the information. "Hai, su-su-sumimasen, I meant to tell you, You-senpai, and Hiro-senpai but... I didn't want you to think badly of me..." said the girl that intense bluish blush on her face. "What do you mean? That form is bitchin'!" Maiko said taking note of the fact the young Sairevil was now on the run from his own attacks being blasted back his way. With this happening, Maiko would aim to throw her still useful shield with the Reverse magic in it, spinning like a Yo-yo she aimed to connect with Sairevil as she tried to escape his backlash.

Miyuki's eyes widened at this point, she didn't expect any to just accept her. Izuna and Eira both knew of her original form, as they'd been around to pick her up. But, she'd sworn them to secrecy so that she could feel normal among their peerage, her strange blush aside. Hearing that the person most normal in their peerage though so highly of her, made her remember how excited Takumi had been at the thought of seeing it. She felt obligated to show him how cool she could be like this, since he had even less supernatural experience than she did. "Hai, I might be able to try something else... and put on that show you asked for..." the girl said. She felt uncommonly strong right now, and as such she took a strange stance, holding her sword in front of her she made it touch the ground several times. Until four strings of magic dance below and a large white light appeared beneath her. It didn't grow into a giant pillar around her as it had before. She found herself looking at this black dragon before her with conviction in her eyes. "Hakuren..." she said as a tsunami like wave of ice was created by her pushing forward through the magic tethers she'd created in the moments prior. It aimed to completely engulf the Dragon maid, pummeling her with snow and ice while trying to freeze her. This was the truest form of Miyuki's magic and was much more powerful than her previous attempts. And even Miyuki herself would realize this while she worked.

[Bloodedge]

The apathy of Zekrom was long gone when Miyuki took on - and then explained the strangeness of - her new form. Though, it could rather be said that this was her old form, but it didn't seem to be something she had really made use of since becoming a Devil. Zekrom had to admit to being impressed. Even before any offense was staged by this form of Miyuki, she felt a constant chill building up. Frankly, even Sairevil felt the temperature dropping as he moved about. In a matter of moments from the time Miyuki and Maiko completed their exchange, the former was attacking with a torrent of diamond dust. "Kawaii~!" Zekrom said whilst viewing the expression on the girl's face. Her lightning-coated right arm was held out against the blast, and the lightning blasted outward to keep the opposing wave at bay, but she found herself having to pour out energy from her entire body to be capable of pushing through. "So determined... and so much stronger than before. I used to love crushing people like you," she commented. All the while, she was walking through Miyuki's blast, though it wasn't so much an apparently easy task. Her steps were made slow, but she kept her stride long with intentions of reaching Miyuki directly, and placing a hand charged with lightning atop the girl's head.

Sairevil remained on the move from the return of his own attack, and Maiko was on the offensive again. Her spinning mirror produced quite a problem for the lad, as he hardly had a method of avoiding it that didn't involve him running into his own attack from moments prior. He had a realization related to a discussion previously had with Sirtreize, and a smile grew on his face. In the middle of a forward hop, Sairevil turned to face the oncoming mirror, and it struck him directly. Sairevil's armor cracked and opened at the torso, and in the next second, he was fading into the green glow of the retirement system.

[Apollymi]

This maid known as Zekrom seemed to be enthused by Miyuki's development. And even as Miyuki launched what was to be considered to be the height of her Ice related abilities, the dragon maid kept moving forward. One lightning covered hand before her, she pushed through the entirety of the blast speaking of how she once enjoyed crushing people with this sort of strength. A smile crossed the small girl's face, as she felt good about being this sort of person for the Dragon Maid, though the raven haired woman had initially shown more apathy towards her. "Arigatou gozaimasu..." Miyuki managed this lightning covered hand aimed to make contact with the top of her head, and the girl looked up at it and blinked. It would indeed seem to make contact with it, but if Miyuki was one thing it was overly skittish. As such after speaking she exhaled creating an ice clone of herself, which if that hand pressed against, would burst on contact, in an attempt to flash freeze the woman with an attack hidden within the clones flesh, made exclusively of Miyuki's own subarctic breath. Miyuki herself would be seen a smaller distance behind this just out of range by the time the blast detonated.

Meanwhile, it seemed that Sairevil had met his match. Facing off against, Maiko with her newly enhanced abilities seemed to overwhelm the crimson haired lad. Or moreover, it seemed he was resigned to some fate unknown to everyone else. He had the choice between taking his own attack, and being smashed by the shield thrown in his direction, and he chose the shield much to Maiko's surprise. The ultimate ending of it was him being retired. Maiko was left looking wide eyed, the cold causing a shiver from the lass, which likely would have been worse if not for the sweater dress she was presently wearing. "Well damn, why'd he go taking a hit like that? We could have gone a bit l-longer..." she managed with a random shiver. 'Is that why she stutters like that?' she questioned mentally, turning her attention to the final moment in battle between Zekrom and Miyuki. She was stunned the youngest member of their peerage in appearance seemed to be fairly in control of her battle, compared to how she'd been in the moments prior when she'd doubted herself.

[Bloodedge]

After what felt like a long trek, Zekrom reached the end of the ice wave. Her hand easily reached Miyuki's head... or so she thought. Suddenly, the Miyuki she saw after passing through the wave burst, producing an additional freezing effect the moment Zekrom thought to focus her efforts on offense. Interestingly enough, she was frozen with a wider smile than she previously wore, and an overall expression that could easily be described as lecherous. Over the course of several seconds, the ice began to slowly crack under the pressure of Zekrom's rising Demonic Power... however, the retirement system claimed her just before the final shatter, not at all due to an inability to continue the fight. At that very moment, a dice roll registered from Sirtreize's side of the Rating Game. The number that appeared was no other than...

6

"And it seems we have a forced retirement of Sirtreize's Bishop," said Szavelneas, who knew exactly why this occurred. "I suppose that's all there is to it. Ladies and gentlemen, we've now seen a surprise underdog victory by Eira Gremory's Rook and Bishop. What will we see next? Sirtreize is down only two members, and Eira now has four."

[Apollymi]

At the end of her most recent evasive maneuver, Miyuki's eyes widened. The now frozen black dragon, was staring at her through ice, with a smile that unnerved the small girl just a bit. It made her grip her sword just a little tighter, like she should be preparing for something way worse than what had been previously shown. 'I don't think she's going to stay, I...' there was a pause as the cracking occurred several times and Maiko came to her side seeming to understand what was happening. "Ryuume, I can run..." Maiko had started to offer to be a bit of a diversion since it seemed Miyuki was capable enough to put up a good offense, but before the final crack would have occurred the maid disappeared. An exhale of pure cold escaped Miyuki as she shook her head, fairly happy that she didn't actually have to keep fighting that dragon. With this the pair of them went back to their hub, with Eira having watched the end of the match. She stood with her arms open for both of these young women, and Maiko and Miyuki both approached her, with Miyuki resealing her Yuki-Onna form with frozen tears falling from her eyes.

"Su...su...su....Sumimasen, Eira-nee! I got scared..." she cried her knees shaking. "Yare, yare, that was a lot for you, but you don't have to apologize. I'm really proud of you, Miyuki~" she said moving her hand from around the girl to the top of her head. "And you too Maiko~ You both did great, holding up that long against Nii-sama's peerage," she said to them. Of course, Maiko was more than a bit confused by what she saw, and she found herself questioning things. "I mean, I did alright, but... why did Sirtreize-sama, retire his Bishop? She could still fight right?" she seemed to understand at least a little. A chuckle came from Eira as she finally released the pair. "Uh... Zekrom is said to be a bit... battle thirsty. Something about becoming overly excited the stronger her opponents are... Miyuki being able to come back with stronger attacks in succession probably would have made her, scarily happy," she mentioned of Sirtreize's Bishop. "Or Nii-sama has grown impatient and is ready to see, what Takumi has going on..." Eira mentioned, technically either option was viable. Maiko accepted these answers, "I didn't know Sirtreize-sama was that interested in anything, and why does he have a battle crazed maid?" she wondered aloud and rhetorically. She obviously didn't see that similar things could have been said about her, considering how she came to be in Eira's Peerage. Regardless the crimson haired lass, made her way to the bowl and dropped her die, and surprisingly enough it rolled several times before coming to a stop.

6

A sigh came from Eira, in this moment because it was obvious to her at least that this was likely to be one of the last fights that would happen. She paused while the announcers seemed to gain a bit more happiness. "Indeed, and what an interesting showing for the pair of them as well!" she said as commentary on the last match. "But it seems there is much more excitement to be had here today, as the pair rolled a collective twelve... that opens up an entire new game for everyone present. Who's coming out next? Kings send your next choices," Elsa commented seeming to be more into this scrimmage than one would expect of a Satan. Eira looked to Takumi and smiled, "It seems like it is finally your turn, Takumi~" Eira said, she could have sent herself out, but she knew her brother wasn't trying to fight her. Nor was he interested in what she had going on as far as her own skills were concerned. Still she didn't really like the idea of sending him out alone, she knew she'd have to do it eventually.

[Bloodedge]

"Finally. She doesn't have much of a choice now. Unless... she's become that selfish," Sirtreize said, though he was doing no more than thinking aloud. He was more than satisfied by this roll, and he knew exactly who to send out in case the Red Dragon Emperor was actually being sent by Eira. "Shira... Go say hello," he said with a devious smirk the likes of which only graced Sirtreize's visage in select instances.

At the same time, Takumi was addressed by his master. At long last, his time to act had come, and yet... he was still seemingly affected by Sirtreize's spell. He rose with the same dead eyes he'd held since entering the party, but his lips were parted slightly by the time he stood erect. Once more, his eyes flashed their natural orange hue. 'Oi, Partner!' spoke a familiar voice in his head, bringing a full halt to his movements. 'Who are you?' Takumi replied through his thoughts. Numerous times now, he'd heard the call of this voice, but it had always been during critical moments where he could not properly acknowledge it. 'You don't remember? I am the Welsh Dragon Ddraig. I've been here with you all along. You've got a major challenge approaching, so I thought I'd tell you...'

'You're... my Sacred Gear? That's right. Every time this power showed up, it's been your voice I've heard in my head. But... I'm not using my power now. Why would you come to me so casually?' the boy questioned further. An audible sigh resonated throughout his head then, followed by the final response of the Dragon Ddraig. 'Because I wanted to warn you about the challenge, and tell you... to wake up!' In that very moment, Takumi's eyes properly returned to their normal state, and his expression became that of his resting face as well. "H-hai," was his response to Eira thereafter. He seemed distracted at the time, when in fact, he was. Still, the young Pawn stepped out onto the transportation platform to be taken into a battlefield designed to be a vast space with mist crawling along every inch of the floor, and nothing but a void as far as the eye could see.

[Apollymi]

"Selfish? Is this Eira you're talking about?" this was a question to Sirtreize from his wife. She didn't know Eira to be anything but giving, almost to the point of it being a fault. It seemed he was privy to information he hadn't shared about the shifting nature of his younger sister. The devious grin which spread across his face soon after his statement of sending out a certain member of his peerage, was one which let the raven haired woman know that he was up to nothing considered good. Regardless of this a young woman dressed in white rose from her seat seemingly amused. "Hai hai, I was hoping I'd be the one to get to fight him~ Lucky me~" the young woman said, with a bubbly amount of happiness which was almost contagious. When Shira as she was called stepped onto the platform, she was transported to something which looked like nothing but mists. No bushes or flowering plants dotted the landscape, this space was void other than the mist, and it was a bit disappointing. Even she waited, with long sleeves dangling in the wind shifting back and forth at her sides, until her eyes would suddenly widen at the sight of her opponent.

Meanwhile something strange was happening in the hub which belonged to Eira. It seemed that, her still hypnotized pawn was a bit slow to respond. He stood with dead eyes, but by the time he'd responded to Eira, his eyes were clear. Eira looked at this young man with considerable surprise, finding him without her brother's influence of his own accord. "Kawaii!~ Look who's back to normal! Gambatte, Takumi..." she said, with the same enthusiasm she'd offered everyone else, as she returned to her seat. Even so, Eira, seemed a bit distressed, there were several reasons for this, not least was this strange ability of Takumi's to shake the hypnotism of her brother. 'I didn't know he could properly shake him, having a dragon on peerage is going to be a strange addition...' she thought initially as she clasped her hands together in front of her. Strangely her fingers began to fidget as she watched this match beginning, she couldn't really explain it, but she rather suddenly wished that she'd taken this fight instead of sending out Takumi. It felt unfair of her to send him out on his own... she didn't want him out facing a challenge without her being able to offer him assistance. As she thought this over she didn't seem to consider how unusual this line of thought was for her. She normally had no problem letting her peerage members think things over and work through their challenges by themselves. All of them, had asked for her, wanted her help when she finally extended a hand to them. It didn't normally come without asking, even if it was something she felt she should do. So, what was so different about Takumi?

[Bloodedge]

"Hai," was all Sirtreize had to offer Cinder in response. If he intended to give the information he had, it would come at a later time. For now, he let himself be passed by the white-haired woman he'd called upon, looking toward her with that notorious grin of his until the moment she was teleported.

Takumi was moved to the battlegrounds while still stepping forward, resulting in him slowly encroaching upon his opponent by the time he appeared. As strange as this was, he couldn't stop himself from going forth. The gem that appeared on the back of his Boosted Gear showed itself on his bare hand, and it glowed as Ddraig spoke aloud to the woman. "Funny seeing you here, Chibi White One," he said. Takumi reacted to this with surprise, even going so far as to raise his hand and look at the gem atop it. "Chibi White One?" he wondered aloud. Takumi suddenly felt strange about this battle. From his own understanding of how his powers activated, and from looking at this woman's form, he was being led to believe he would not be capable of summoning his Boosted Gear. Perhaps he would have to find some other way?

[Apollymi]

The singular word answer from Sirtreize, would leave Cinder wishing he'd just explained. Still there was a problem here, and it was with the person he'd chosen to have make contact with whoever was next. His deviousness wouldn't escape the watchful eyes of those who knew better, but regardless, the woman known as Shira was now speaking, not directly with Takumi but instead, with the glowing gem in his arm. "Sugei!~ It's the Red One!~ I didn't expect to see you here either... all sealed away... in a kid. Figured you would have gone for something, a bit more... manly~" Reshiram said seeming to take a minor bit of pity on Ddraig, but it didn't last for long. "But you still call me that... I'm not so little anymore, ya' know?~" the young woman teased. Her personality was hard to place, even so, it seemed that she was very open to chatting and answer questions. "Chibi White One, is the title I have as a Dragon. You know... like your being the 'Red Dragon Emeperor', because you hold the Red One~" she said to Takumi finding him strange, and leaving out the bit about the bigger white one, which was still a bit of a sore spot for the woman. She moved forward, to Takumi and stared at his arm directly, aiming to capture him by the one with the glowing Gem on the back of it almost immediately for no real reason at all. "So, are you coming out to play, Red One?" she asked. Before it was impossible for her to have taken such a fight, but now, with him sealed, she felt she could top him, and would just for her own amusement.

[Bloodedge]

"I don't get to choose who ends up as my partner. If I did have a choice, I would still just be me," said Ddraig. True enough, the Welsh Dragon - also known as the Dragon Emperor of Domination - was only truly at home when he was in his own body, bar a few instances since being sealed in a Sacred Gear. Maybe this particular host would prove to be one capable of bringing out his power. For the moment, though, Takumi was struggling to fathom the things going on around him. "You're... a Dragon too!?" he asked of the white-haired woman. Once again, Ddraig had something to say. "A chibi one..."

Suddenly, Takumi was grabbed by his left arm. He hadn't even noticed the movements of the white Dragon in humanoid form, yet here she was, talking into his hand. "That all depends on my partner," said Ddraig. "But... I don't know how I can. She doesn't have..." he said, happening to let his sentence trail off as his gaze found the female Dragon's torso.

[Apollymi]

Some new information met the ears of Reshiram, as she discovered that Ddraig had no real control over whom he ended up with. Such a thing seemed sad, considering her own ability to mostly control what she looked like. Regardless, she'd successfully captured, Takumi by the arm and was content to look him over, finding his lack of reflexes regrettable. His astonishment at her being a Dragon was worthy of a chuckle and a good laugh, "Of course, I am..." the words of Ddraig cut off the potential boast which was come come and brought about an angrier bit of conversation. "I AM THE VAST WHITE DRAGON!!" she exclaimed. Finding it disheartening that even after so much time, this particular dragon still thought so little of her. The fight between this one, and another had been the reason she and Zekrom had begun fighting, to gain something greater, before they were ultimately defeated and made into devils, by Sirtreize Lucifer.

At the questioning of whether or not she'd be getting to face Ddraig properly the man put it off on his partner Takumi. Takumi himself seemed to have a thought about something, claiming he was unable to draw out the power for some unknown reason to the white haired woman. Still, grey eyes followed his line of sight down her torso, and her cheeks puffed up and she turned red in the face. "THIS IS A FIGHT AND THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE THINKING OF?!" she said seemingly outraged, so much so, that she used the arm she had grabbed as leverage and aimed to slam the boy into the ground rather suddenly. There was something rather off about the personality of this dragon, and it seemed to be set off, by the acknowledgement that she was flat-chested.

[Bloodedge]

A boast was to come from the Dragon, but it was delayed briefly by the words of Ddraig. This only resulted in the boast continuing, albeit in more of an outrage than it likely would have been without Ddraig's interjection. As for the ability of Takumi to call upon the Boosted Gear and allow these Dragons to fight in a way, he truly did not think it possible with Reshiram's lack of breasts. The woman took exception to the realization of where his attention was. "Hehe... Chibi," Ddraig chimed in again. Before he could even add his own two cents, so to speak, Takumi was crashing into the ground beneath the blanket of mist. He winced for a few moments before begrudgingly dragging himself up again.

"It's probably not a good idea to trash talk a Dragon. The little ones always have bad temperaments," Ddraig told the boy. "But I wasn't! Senpai said it was the only way to bring out my power," was Takumi's reply. Just then, if Ddraig still had a face, the expression upon it would speak for itself. "... You weren't listening. I don't want to repeat myself. Dragon Booster!" By the command of Ddraig, the Boosted Gear appeared on Takumi's left hand as it had before. Takumi was in shock, but he supposed he couldn't question the ability of his Sacred Gear to summon itself. "H-hai! Gomennasai... I can fight."

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Ddraig was content to further taunt Reshiram, of course, this only served to enrage the sinister happy dragon. After she'd left Takumi in the ground she stood back her arms crossed over her chest, as she rather jealously considered the women of the world with larger breasts than hers. "I am not CHIBI!" she exclaimed stamping her foot, seeming to have locked in on that as the thing that triggered the worst mood she'd seen in centuries. After the boy managed to drag himself up, he and the dragon which spoke through his arm, had a different kind of conversation. He was given a bit of a talking to, about how best to approach dragons, and even had the gauntlet known as the boosted gear appear on his arm with a bit of prompting.

All the while, the white haired woman seemed to be trying to talk herself out of her neurosis. "I have to be good. Sirtreize will be disappointed if I fly off the handle... breathe Reshiram. Breathe," she coached herself. With Takumi now stating he could apparently fight, she sighed turning her gaze towards him and this Boosted Gear upon his arm and took a large inhale. If this boy could really fight, she'd have to see how he managed against something a bit less direct first. She soon exhaled, and a blood curdling screech escaped her, which seemed to pulse with waves of power. The force of it was concussive. It could potentially damage organs, shake the landscape and physically assault those it touched. It was exclusively a magic she performed and perfected based on the original screech she possessed as a Dragon.

While this initial exchange took place, Eira was fidgeting, in a manner most different from the way she usually carried herself. 'I really should have taken this fight. It seems like too much, too soon...' she thought, her fingers sliding over each other. Even when faced with one such as Onoko Astaroth, Eira had retained a potent calm which radiated her ever so slight murderous intent. For the duration of these matches, she'd been commentating and appreciating the work of her peerage, and noting their flaws. But right now, she felt something else, a deep sense of guilt, for throwing Takumi to another Dragon. This simple boy, who likely had no idea he had this sort of power resting in him until a couple of days prior. Still, when considering her own actions, she knew deep down, she would have made him a second time without question. It was so strange, that even one such as Maiko who was now leaned up behind her, rested her chin atop Eira's head. "Eira-sama, are you stoked about the match too? Yasukawa, against another dragon, gotta be a hell of a match!" she said which made the crimson haired woman, snap to attention and exhale a previously held breath. "Hai... it feels a bit tense, but maybe this is excitement," she managed, letting this girl take the place of Youmu who normally helped Eira regulate her stranger moods.

[Bloodedge]

Takumi clenched his fist clad in the Boosted Gear. He gazed upon Reshiram, who was going through some very strange emotional issues, as far as he was concerned. To see someone talking themselves out of a frenzy was somewhat... intimidating, to say the least, yet he had to go forth. He was waiting for some sort of acknowledgement to his declaration, but what actually came his way was a scream carrying a greater power than he'd seen in his previous altercations. Takumi's eyes widened as the force struck him, immediately pushing him back even as he braced himself. The boy's arms crossed in front of his face, with the Boosted Gear out front as he squinted. "Hrgh... This feels so different..." he groaned. "That's Dragon power, Partner. It's on a different level compared to what Devils use."

Understanding that this would be a challenge the likes of which he couldn't approach like the last, Takumi made every attempt to push against this screech. As he tried, though, he began feeling it even inside his body. "Promotion... Rook!" he declared, granting himself the defensive abilities of the Rook Evil Piece. "Boost!" the Boosted Gear declared, granting him additional capacity to press forward, yet still not enough to make much headway. "Oi, Chibi Shira. Stop throwing a tantrum on my partner."

[Apollymi]

Strangely enough the young man was pushed back by the empowered voice that Reshiram let out, as he tried to move forward through it, the call of boost and a promotion to the Rook Trait that pawns could use made it so that he could start to push back. "Urusai! I'm not a Chibi!" she said to the matter of her throwing a tantrum on Ddraig's partner she could only shake her head from left to right, signaling that she had no intention of stopping. "I am the Vast White Dragon, if you keep talking to me like that, I'll shut you up... and your 'partner' will suffer for it!"

She'd subsequently turn her voice to the air, and let out a screech which, made flaming balls of rock a couple of meters across apiece begin to fall all around the boy. She no longer cared to bring down his physical form, she intended now to distract him. However he chose to deal with the current marring of the battlefield, she'd be watching, intending to wait for a proper opening to attack directly. Though she was a Bishop of Sirtreize, this particular Dragon was still prone to more physical altercations, but only when she was certain that she wouldn't manage to get hurt in the exchange.

[Bloodedge]

"The little ones always did talk big," Ddraig said most casually while Takumi struggled. Eventually, Takumi no longer had to deal with the screech. By then, though, there was another one used for an entirely different reason. Numerous meteorites were formed overhead, forcing Takumi to raise his head and rely on something he'd only used once before. He focused his own Demonic Power on the Boosted Gear, creating an orb which he aimed up at the meteor storm. Once his aim was set, this orb released a red beam multiple times over to shatter individual meteors that were to be an immediate danger to the lad. The rest were left to tear asunder the ground around him, but even the remnants of the destroyed stones were still flaming, and therefore a problem. Takumi held his Boosted Gear over his head as if to block with his forearm, deciding his only out was to try something new. In the same way he used his own energy to create the "Dragon Shot" technique, he created a circular shield to act as an umbrella against the flaming debris. The shield flickered each time it was pummeled, until... "Boost!" The second doubling of Takumi's power gave him just enough strength to properly maintain this new barrier against the downpour.

[Apollymi]

Ddraig's words led Reshiram to believe that he was unfazed by her threats. Given their history, she knew why this was, and it still infuriated her. So much so, that she said nothing while, Takumi defended himself, she darted through the falling meteors to the area now clean immediately behind Takumi. Being here, she was able to open her mouth, not to screech but to exhale. Doing so caused a dragon breath of purple paralytic gas to escape her mouth as she aimed to stop the movements of Takumi completely that she might dismantle Ddraig without his inteference. "Take it back Red One!" she mentioned, deciding here and now if she didn't like what Ddraig said next that she fully intended to hurt Takumi, regardless of the consequences.

Eira watched this fight, biting her lip. She'd never had contact with this individual before, but she knew given what she was seeing this wouldn't go well. 'Nii-sama, why'd you do this...' she thought. For a friendly match, it seemed that this person was the least friendly they'd seen so far, Cinder Fall's impatience, Zekrom's battle thirst, even Serde's straight power, all seemed to pale in comparison as obstacle which was Reshiram's fury. "Ugh, I shouldn't have sent him out..." Eira said aloud her head falling forward into her hands. This was the least kept look she'd managed, it wasn't that she didn't think Takumi capable of getting over it. She simply thought it was an unnecessary set of challenges for someone she'd made on a whim without the normal bond she normally forged from her Peerage first.

[Bloodedge]

As Takumi guarded against debris, Reshiram moved to his rear. He didn't know what was coming, but he felt it wasn't going to be pleasant. With this in mind, Takumi turned to face the woman while holding his shield out against her. This didn't help one little bit, considering the gas-like nature of her attack, which immediately ceased any ability he had to move from how he was presently positioned. His eyes widened, but that was about all he could manage in this state. Ddraig still didn't seem fazed at all. "Why would I take anything back? What could you possibly do to me?" spoke the Dragon within Boosted Gear. Takumi could only wonder why this exchange was happening. He wasn't involved in whatever these Dragons had going on in the past, and he didn't even know about it. He had no reason whatsoever to be in the middle of this ordeal.

[Apollymi]

It seemed that Ddraig thought Reshiram incapable of doing anything to him. Directly this might have been true, but the paralyzed body of Takumi could still be ravaged in a way which wouldn't be helpful to the Welsh Dragon. "Remember it's his fault..." she said to Takumi, in a moment of clarity which would likely make the white haired woman seem calm in her crazed state. Reshiram picked up Takumi by his normal arm and stared at him, she knew this boy had nothing really to do with the grudge she held against the Dragon inside him. But even so, he was able to be punished for it. She grabbed Takumi by the arm which held its Boosted Gear and attempted a two-fold attack. The first of which would be snapping it between her fingers at exactly the elbow, and beyond that she'd soon aim to rip the arm off at this point, throwing it to the side. The whole of this action would only take a few seconds if it happened, but it would leave extreme pain in its wake.

[Bloodedge]

While he was incapable of defending himself in any way, Takumi was raised by his right arm. Ddraig's attitude toward the female Dragon had not changed, and her reactions to his attitude were only getting worse by the moment. She may have been enraged by Ddraig, but her rage manifested against Takumi by association. Her first physical aggression came in the form of grasping the arm which wore Boosted Gear, and breaking it at the elbow. Everything seemed to occur in slow motion as Takumi's eyes widened, and his lips parted. Before he could even react to his arm being broken, it was torn off at the elbow. A blood-curdling scream erupted from deep within his throat while blood sprayed from the stub of his left arm. Just like that, he had nothing left. Takumi was left without his arm, and by association, without the Sacred Gear that was upon it. Or so he thought...

'Oi! Urusai!'

[Apollymi]

A blood curdling scream from Takumi once her work was complete, and as such she allowed the boy to fall from her grasp. The white-haired dragon woman was content to display smiles and happiness once more. "He finally shut up!~" she said pleased beyond what was a normal amount of reason. "Hm, you can take a straight lost limb? I figured that sort of thing would have gotten you retired, you must be used to taking punishment. I wonder what Sirtreize's little sister is like that she'd let you suffer like this without retiring you herself?~" mused the white dragon as she danced around this young man trying to decide how she wished to finish this entire thing. "Maybe, she's hateful, and decided you weren't worth the investment~" mused Reshiram. "Or maybe, she'll use the Phoenix Tears and get you, your arm back... even though doing so would leave her at a disadvantage later when she will likely face Sirtreize herself~" the white Dragon now calmed by what she'd done had plenty to say, and none of it particularly nice, though it came out in such a happy tone, you could almost question if this was really the same being. She'd finally gotten what she wanted, which was silence from the opposing Dragon. As far as she was concerned what was left before her, was simply a little human boy, and thus no real threat at all.

Her words about Eira though, were more than a little displaced. The crimson haired younger sister of Sirtreize was more than a little outraged by what she saw. In fact, she'd stood, and it'd initially been her aim to Retire Takumi after this grevious injury just so that she could have the pleasure of facing this dragon in person. She was stopped from this action by Maiko, who clamped her arms around the other woman. "Eira-sama, you have to see what he can do first. Yasukawa isn't a punk, he's not gonna let something like that stop him. Besides, it just manifests on his arm, he's still got some power. He might figure out how to use it..." she mentioned. It would be Miyuki who looked still stunned as well. "I agree Eira-nee, you could use the Phoenix Tears and give him his arm back if it doesn't work out. But just like I was out when I was scared, Taku-senpai wouldn't want to be pulled out because he's hurt," Miyuki said as she clamped onto the woman's legs. Eira retook her seat. "I really shouldn't have done this..." she said, not talking about the rating game, or even sending Takumi out to face a challenge alone. Instead the normally steadfast heiress was questioning why she'd made such a boy only to have him suffer for her sake. She wanted to see what his life would become. She'd wanted this, but she hadn't explained what such a thing would mean, and now he was facing a challenge greater than all others, at the hands of a mad Dragon because of this singular moment of selfishness Eira had let win.

[Bloodedge]

Soon after having his arm torn off, Takumi was left to fall onto the ground. He landed on his back with neither the will, nor the perceivable energy to lift himself. His understanding of the retiring system left him wondering why he'd be left in the fight at this rate, but Reshiram's words hinted at Eira's ability - and apparently lack of willingness - to take him out manually. Was she right? Was he already proving himself to be weak enough that he may as well be left to die, as he should have when falling from the roof of Kuoh Academy? If that were the case, this would be the perfect opportunity.

The one positive note Takumi could take from this was that Ddraig had not disappeared, even when Boosted Gear was taken from him. 'You're still here? Gomen. There's nothing I can do anymore. I became a Devil for no reason,' he said to the Welsh Dragon. At this point, Takumi was face-to-face with Ddraig in his own mind, looking upon the massive form of the Red Dragon with his own eyes. 'You sound weaker than you are, Partner. Where did all that fury and determination go? Didn't you say you were never going to let anyone assume your worth? Don't tell me all that talk was for nothing,' said Ddraig.

'I guess it was for nothing. I don't have a way to fight anymore. Boosted Gear was in my left hand, and it's gone... and even Devils have to bleed out... right?' Takumi's query demanded a sigh from the Welsh Dragon. He couldn't believe the companion he was living within this time could be such a pessimist. 'Where's your memory? I've seen your worth, Partner. Didn't you hear me say you'd make a better Dragon than a Devil?' he asked in rhetoric. Meanwhile, Takumi's physical body was beginning to rise from the ground with blood still pouring from his left arm.

'But... What do you mean by that?'

[Apollymi]

The musings of the Vast White Dragon would continue as she rose off the ground seeming to float above the place she'd let Takumi fall, using nothing but the over-sized sleeves attached to her outfit. "Eh? Maybe she thinks you'll learn something here... I mean it isn't likely. You aren't much like the other ones who seem overly devoted given they knew their odds coming in here..." she said seeming to find it strange that he hadn't been pulled out. More over, once his screaming stopped he was still for quite some time, it only made her wonder what he was up to. Still, her own arrogance as a Dragon wouldn't allow her to feel threatened by a one armed human teenager. Until of course, he managed to stand and at this point her eyes widened. "Ano? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Meanwhile Eira felt horrible for letting this boy experience this. But she knew her other peerage members were correct. "You're right. I just don't want him to think I'm abandoning him to this..." she said. Without pulling him out directly and with no means to communicate to the lad, she felt it could be punishing to his psyche to be forced to deal with such an injury alone. Besides, there was the looming fact that she'd created him with no prior bond. She had no idea what is motivations were, she couldn't predict his actions mentally. He was by far the most stress inducing member of her peerage to have outside of her direct supervision for extended periods of time, and it was no one's fault but her own. Knowing this she continued to fidget wondering how she could possibly make this right for the lad. "Fuck that. You wouldn't do anything like that, and if he doesn't know that already... he'll figure it out!" these were the words of Maiko who was at least a little confused by the idea that her leader seemed to be having a crisis of conscience surrounding Takumi. Miyuki also found it strange, but she also knew that Eira wouldn't abandon any of them and they all should be aware of that, even someone as new as Takumi. "Iie, he wouldn't think that... L-L-Look!" she was paused mid-sentence and drew Eira's attention back to the fight at hand in which, Takumi had managed to stand even with his arm missing. The relief that ran through Eira's body was visible in this moment though the tension of her brows remained as she gazed upon his injury, she was at least satisfied that the boy hadn't lost consciousness.

[Bloodedge]

'You want to prove your worth? Prove you're more than a Devil. Prove you have what it takes to be the Red Dragon Emperor,' was the last thing Ddraig said directly to Takumi. Ddraig was not the only one speaking to Takumi as the boy's body rose from the ground, though; Reshiram chose to question what he thought he was doing. At first glance, Takumi's eyes looked as dead as they had when he was under Sirtreize's hypnosis spell, but there was a great fire burning beneath the surface. The bleeding of his arm was ceasing as moments passed, and the hidden fire in his gaze was approaching the forefront of his expression. At the same time, a deep red mist-like energy shrouded the area where his arm was meant to be attached. "You think you have the right to assume my placement in the world?" he asked. "If even my master thinks I'm worthless... it doesn't matter. I can't let it matter. Even if I have to kill everyone who tries to determine what I'm worth, I'll do it." These exact words had been spoken by Takumi long ago, prior to his transfer to Kuoh Academy. They were the words which led to his expulsion, and nearly took the lives of those who tormented him. As his eyes locked onto Reshiram again, they had returned to their red glowing state. He was in no way under hypnosis again, but rather, he was back to a state he'd experienced in the battle against Onoko Astaroth.

[Apollymi]

Reshiram was left to stand looking stunned. She hadn't expected him to gather himself enough to stand, much less to be able to speak as if he had any hope and not a care in the world. She soon held a hand above her head creating a giant swirling mass of fire which seemed to be compressing itself steadily overtime, growing into something massive and damaging. "Aww, such a pretty speech. You want to stand for your destruction? Be my guest~" the white dragon chimed. Still she saw those glowing red eyes of his and felt something ever so close to fear. "Oooh~ Glowing eyes? Ddraig did you decide to come out for me?~" she was bemused but still there was something, the giant orb over head grew until ultimately she'd let it go to rain down a massive explosion of destruction upon Takumi, in the hopes of dispelling him before he had some kind of crazed comeback. She didn't care that he wasn't technically Ddraig, and that he was missing an arm, soon enough she'd be able to say she'd beaten the Red Dragon Emperor.

Meanwhile, Eira was still at the edge of her seat, with two female members of her peerage wrapped around her. The other two young ladies meant to offer her comfort, and see to it, that she let Takumi finish his fight. Though they had different reasons for doing this, Maiko because she understood what it meant to give a challenge your all, even if you got beat up in the middle. And Miyuki, because she'd seen Takumi's desire to be of use to Eira in their earlier Rating Game and knew he likely wouldn't disappoint if given an opportunity. Both would be surprised as Eira rather suddenly became relaxed in her seat, regaining all of the composure she'd previously lost after watching Takumi rise with glowing eyes and pure determination in his face. "Sou ka, he's like that now... I hope Nii-sama has a backup plan, I don't think he'll remain weak for very long and his little pet Dragon might end up in real trouble... Ufufufufu~" the giggle which came from Eira was one of her normal ones. Her commentary had also returned, but the other girls were left to wonder why. Eira had seen this sort of determination from Takumi and knew that nothing easy going would come from it being directed towards Reshiram.

[Bloodedge]

"My destruction? Well, I guess... if I have to destroy myself to prove myself, that's just how it'll have to be," Takumi said whilst staring this woman down. The arrogance of a Dragon was not to be understated, and Takumi had now seen it in Maiko and Miyuki's fight against Zekrom, Ddraig's interactions with Reshiram, and now first hand from Reshiram herself. Even as she faced the one-armed boy, she offered a great power intended to crush him under its burning fury. Those glowing red eyes of Takumi's looked up at this blast, and his nub of an arm rose as if there were still a hand attached to use against Reshiram's attack. When the orb reached where Takumi's hand would have been, it stopped abruptly. The red energy stemming from the boy's arm had extended to his arm's natural, full length, and even formed fingers.

From within the energy Takumi's body produced, the rest of his arm began to miraculously regenerate. Instead of growing human skin, though, it boasted the scaly form of a Dragon, complete with the additive armor of Boosted Gear. When it finished forming, Boosted Gear returned in its full glory. "Boost!" the Sacred Gear spoke. Even though his power had been doubled from its base again, Takumi should have been out of his element in holding off this level of attack. On the other hand, the boy's arm was now that of a Dragon, not a human nor a Devil. The resting power of the Pawn had been increased dramatically based solely on this fact. At the very least, his arm alone was strong enough to accomplish this feat now, and a sudden use of his Dragon Shot spell saw to it that Takumi could blast a hole through the middle of the orb, using a beam that was easily three times its previous width.

[Apollymi]

Reshiram had nothing else to say, she'd see to it that this young man ceased to stand before her like he was good. If there was one thing she saw in him in this moment, it was the arrogance that Dragons normally possessed. And she knew herself to possess more of this than the average dragon, even so, she was content to watch as her giant orb of fury swallowed up the boy.

"KAWAIII~ TA-KU-MI!~ He grew a new arm~" chimed Eira as she watched this fight. Something about this boy had drastically changed, and it looked like he'd gained a dragon arm to sport his Boosted Gear. She couldn't say she understood this very much, but she did know that the boy was willing to go too far to accomplish his goals, whatever they were. Maiko managed to be stunned, "Damnit, literally everyone is better than me now..." she said slamming her fist together. She knew her training would have to increase massively if she wished to stay on par with everyone else. "Sugoi! Taku-senpai didn't give up... I knew he wouldn't..." Miyuki said, knowing their kindred bond would lead him into doing as much as he could even in the messed up situation he was presented with.

Meanwhile, a surprised Reshiram was surprised. Her eyes widening as her orb of energy stopped progressing only to be held off by the pawn in front of her. "No, that isn't possible..." she said only to have her eyes widen greatly as a beam of energy larger than any she would have expected was fired through the orb itself. The boy had gained the arm of a dragon, and with it, he'd fired the sort of energy she couldn't avoid. Her body would be over taken by the blast and she'd fall from her hovering perch to the ground engulfed and damaged by this energy shot. "Look at it!~ So much more powerful than last time~" Eira said of the power of the strike delivered by Takumi. She was nothing but proud of this boy's developments, though she still didn't agree with herself about throwing him into such a situation, basically blind.

[Bloodedge]

"You won't be the last person to say that," Takumi said to the notion of something he did not being possible. He was virtually immobile whilst fending off Reshiram's orb, and while blasting through it, but he wasn't done yet. No, this battle was officially just getting started in the mind of Eira Gremory's only Pawn. As Reshiram lay on the ground, he stepped forward along the misty land marred by the white Dragon's earlier assaults on him. The only thing which stopped this forward movement was a hologram of Sirtreize Lucifer himself coming right between the combatants, facing Reshiram in particular.

Sirtreize wore the same grin he had when sending out his most recent choice for this Dice Figure Game. This was something he'd been waiting for: to see if the Red Dragon Emperor of this generation was worth the title, even just a little. One could say he hoped for this outcome, and waited for such a moment to speak with Reshiram. "Shira-chan... Homura," he said, all while an eerie glow overtook those entrancing eyes of his.

[Apollymi]

"Ugh..." Reshiram made this noise as she pushed her still burning self up. It was painful, she didn't often know pain. She imagined this was what Zekrom felt like before she was forcibly retired. Of course, Reshiram wasn't into people being strong so she could crush them. She simply didn't want to be beaten. Surprisingly enough a hologram of Sirtreize appeared in front of her, and her blue eyes widened and glowed at the speech of a singular word. Strangely enough her body began to gently flame, as if something was unlocked within her person. These flames were blue, at first but seemed to grow into ones which were white hot as she finally stood. "Arigatou Gozaimasu~" she said looking at Takumi afterwards seeming more unfazed than she had before. "Come on Little Red, kid gloves are off. Let's see if you can really play~" she said as she immediately aimed to rush the young man from her standing position as if she intended tackle him. She aimed to push her left shoulder into his stomach and send him flying away from her, while those white hot flames surrounding her body burned him at the contact.

Meanwhile, Eira watched this strange interaction with a hologram of Sirtreize and sighed, "Hm, I wonder what kind of restriction release that was..." she thought aloud. Still, she was more than willing to wait and witness how Takumi handled this next level of power. Obviously, he was already approaching the level of strength maintained by her senior peerage members. She could only hope the lad was able to draw out a bit more, for his own sake.

[Bloodedge]

Takumi looked into the hologram of Sirtreize with narrowed eyes. It was not his place to determine why these words were spoken to Reshiram, but as the hologram faded, the woman rose with newfound strength the likes of which she didn't previously seem capable of. Takumi didn't seem too incredibly bothered by this; the determination factor was too high by now. "Boost!" Ddraig spoke through Boosted Gear. In a moment of gambling with his own abilities, Takumi leaned in and moved forward against Reshiram's movements. The shoulder meant to make contact with his abdomen did exactly that, and Takumi's present state intended to use this to his advantage. Alas, he was instead repelled by the female Dragon's heightened strength. He skidded to a stop a few meters behind his original standing point, holding his abdomen with his right arm while staring down Reshiram with a furrowed brow. "Little Red, huh? Whatever you say," he said in a surprisingly calm tone for one who'd so recently lost and regrown an arm. At this point, he was waiting until he thought he'd been boosted enough times to face Reshiram's new power, and wishing he had a way to know for certain. "Your fire is white now. Were you holding back before?"

[Apollymi]

Whether Reshiram knew the nature of Takumi's Boosted Gear or not, it seemed she was content to answer his question. Of course, this would only occur after she was standing once more with white flames billowing from her person. She grinned really wide, enjoying the nature of her flames in this moment. The arrogance of a Dragon would allow her to not consider this boy a real threat to her. "Curious huh? Well, I guess there isn't any reason I can't tell you~" she said. "I'm sure you figured out this whole thing is pretty much a test. As such, Sirtreize-sama couldn't have us accidentally killing anyone on his beloved younger sister's peerage. So... he put seals on most of us, pretty much everyone except the ones who were going to be fighting the truly strong ones," she finished up with a curt nod. "Cinder Fall, Serde Astaroth, and Sairevil Gremory, don't have seals. So, those fights were about as fair as they could be~" she chimed finding it strange. "And now I don't have one either~ I guess he thought you could take me~" she claimed. Raising a hand above her head several individual white flames gathered around her. Being infused with dragon power they seemed to pulse in a most unnatural way until she pointed. When this occurred they flew towards Takumi and aimed to surround him, and she smiled at the young man. "I don't really feel like seeing how this goes anymore, I'm full power now... I don't have to worry~" she chimed. At this juncture she'd point down, aiming to cause all of these flames to converge upon Takumi aiming to engulf him in a white dragon fire blaze the likes of which could have incinerated a lesser creature. She didn't care much about this, and thought her victory assured enough to not have to worry about this boy any further.

[Bloodedge]

From Reshiram's story, Takumi could infer that Sirtreize meant this entire ordeal to be a fair assessment of the young Devils' abilities. He saw in this a simple desire to ensure the safety and/or well-being of a younger sibling, yet beyond that was the active issue Takumi himself had to deal with. This particular encounter was about as staged as it could get from beginning to end, likely bar the arm-ripping that came as a result of Ddraig's attitude. When it was all said and done though, Takumi took exception to Reshiram's attitude toward him. He'd have liked to call this a trait of Dragons, but Reshiram was reincarnated as a Devil, and he'd seen this demeanor in a pureblood Devil earlier this day. She said she was at full power, and thus had nothing to worry about from Takumi. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fist, Takumi looked into the Boosted Gear. 'Ddraig. You're the source of my power, right? If you can give me a new arm, there's one more thing I'd like from you now...'

A brief exchange occurred between Takumi and Ddraig within the former's subconscious. During this discussion, the array of white flames conjured by Reshiram surrounded the young male. At Reshiram's command, the fires closed in on Takumi, but just as impact was made... "Welsh Dragon Over Booster!" was announced. Engulfed in a mass of white inferno, Takumi's Boosted Gear underwent a change that covered his entire body in an armor styled like the Sacred Gear itself. He burst forward from the flames with nothing but scorched armor, drawing back his left arm to prepare the attack that would come when he reached Reshiram. During his approach, the voice of Ddraig continued to shout: "Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!" Over and over again, Takumi's power was amplified. This didn't stop from the moment he emerged from the flames, all the way to the moment he landed in front of Reshiram with a mighty left fist aimed for the center of her face.

[Apollymi]

While Reshiram felt full of herself at the impending retirement of Eira's only pawn. Eira herself watched as white flames converged upon Takumi. Still, she'd seen the way he looked at Reshiram and she knew she had nothing to worry about. As such, the crimson haired woman watched, with Maiko and Miyuki at the edge of their seats even as Takumi finally emerged in a full armored use of his Sacred Gear. "Oooh!~ Look at Takumi~ With no limits on his boosting!~" Eira chimed seeming to understand giving the flashing of his hand how many times he had to be boosting in those few moments. She could only wonder how much stronger this would make him, and she was soon to find out.

Instead of what Reshiram expected a green light of retirement, she got, an armored red dragon dashing towards her from the body of her flames. And the sound of Ddraig's voice plagued her mind with words she hated from him. "No..." she said, there was no time, she couldn't have run even if she tried, and there was no barrier to create that she could have gotten up in time. She opened her mouth to scream out a pulse of dragon energy, but by the time she did, she was being struck by a power she didn't know this young man to possess. "But... but..." she fell away her body losing consciousness within seconds of this happening, and then disappearing in the green light of retirement herself. She'd made the mistake of underestimating the newest addition to Eira's Peerage and it cost her the match she'd been set up for. She obviously couldn't believe this, but the victory belonged to Takumi.

The crowd would be stunned into silence, before cheering would erupt. It seemed they had indeed begun cheering for the underdog and right now, the biggest uproar yet had happened. "Sugoi! What a showing from the Red Dragon Emperor. It was an uphill battle with many twists and turns, but right here we have it, your winner. Yasukawa Takumi... Eira Gremory's Pawn!"

[Bloodedge]

For Takumi, nothing felt better - more relieving, even - than the sensation of his fist meeting its target here. He had previously failed to reach Onoko Astaroth the way he intended, but this exact moment felt like justice served for both of his battles. What's more, he felt as if he could take any challenge to come his way, as if his power could continue climbing to the heavens themselves. Yet, suddenly...

"Burst!" For the second time since unlocking the power of his Sacred Gear, this announcement was made by the voice of Ddraig. Takumi's power multiplier reduced to zero in an instant, leaving him in a weakened state even when compared to his normal self. The redness of his eyes faded again, and so did his consciousness. Takumi fell forward with a weak smile on his face, only to be transported on the spot to the platform shared by Eira's peerage.

"..." While Elsa spoke to the cheering crowd, Szavelneas was in a silent awe. It wasn't until several seconds after Elsa ceased her speech that he managed to find his own words. "I am as shocked as I believe most of our viewers are. Even I've never seen the power of the Heavenly Dragons in person, but their power cannot be argued against now. I believe we can all look forward to Eira Gremory and her peerage entering the professional Rating Games. For now, let-" Szavel's statement never saw its end. This was due solely to the sudden appearance of Sirtreize on the battlefield where Takumi and Reshiram so recently faced one another. He looked up with a smile while taking the initiative to explain this random occurrence. "I've been waiting all day to see this! The Red Dragon Emperor will be a force to be reckoned with soon enough, but now that all of Eira's members have seen combat... let's bring this to an end. I'd like to see all that remain now," he said, prompting an immediate retort from Szavelneas. "Well... I suppose this is being done for the benefit of the underdog, and I'm sure our audience could use a bit more excitement, if they can get that..."

[Apollymi]

Eira had known what would happen when Takumi reached his limit. Beyond that he'd won without a doubt and as such she was more than ready to congratulate him. By the time he was teleported back to their hub, she was waiting on the platform to catch him. Unsurprisingly enough, that half smiling face of his, would land promptly against the firmness of Eira's bosom as he collapsed. "Ufufufu~ You did well Takumi," Eira managed giving the boy a gentle squeeze. "Arigatou Gozaimasu," she finished up. It would be Miyuki who looked up to see if he was alright, but Maiko who voiced her disbelief. "He did all that and passed out, damn. He could have at least stayed up for the congratulations..." she said, sounding excited and slightly cross. Regardless, this little celebration would come to an end much quicker than Eira thought.

Her elder brother was soon standing below, claiming he wanted to see the rest of Eira's Peerage, as they were seemingly ready to bring an end to their match. A sigh escaped Eira, but she knew like most things done today, this was as favorable as she could expect things to be. "Oh fine, might as well get it over with. Come on you two," she said as she stepped up onto the platform with both Maiko and Miyuki still holding the unconscious Takumi. Once within this battleground once more she looked to her elder brother. Maiko slipped Takumi's arm over her shoulder and held him up with no problem and Miyuki took to the side. "If we fight I'll protect us..." she said of herself, Maiko and Takumi. "Hai hai, but... I am not sure what's going on here," she said a smile spreading across her face. "Are you happy now, Nii-sama? Find out everything you wanted to know?" she asked the man with her hands now clasped in front of her, as she took a few steps forward putting the rest of her peerage behind her for whatever reason.

[Bloodedge]

Sirtreize waited with patience for the appearance of Eira and her remaining members. Soon enough, they arrived. He made no movements toward nor away from this group, but found himself wondering why they had brought along an unconscious Red Dragon Emperor. This group at least seemed to be worth its salt in dedication alone. Sirtreize looked upon Maiko and Miyuki, and saw their willingness to fight alongside their master... or rather, their willingness to stick with one another as comrades, and work in unison.

"As a matter of fact, I did," was Sirtreize's response to his sister. "That's not what's important though, is it? Have you found out everything you need to know?" he asked. Whether she understood what he was alluding to or not, Sirtreize raised his left arm before himself, holding his palm to the sky. A sphere no larger than a marble, formed of the Power of Destruction, and was joined by dozens upon dozens of additional spheres floating around the Satan. He was content to wait before making use of these, if only to see what Eira would say or do next.

[Apollymi]

Miyuki and Maiko were left to look after the unconscious Takumi, while Eira stood looking at her brother. As he spoke, her arms crossed under her chest and she sighed. Still, she found herself watching the creation of various small orbs of Destruction which she knew to be his favored form of them for general use. She looked at these dozens of orbs as he created them and shrugged. His answers to her questions were strangely cryptic and while this annoyed Eira she knew better than to behave rashly at this point. "Obviously it mattered enough for you to orchestrate this whole thing. So I'd say it's kind of important," she said with a casual roll of her eyes. Still she couldn't deal with these orbs with anything she present had, and Extinguished Star would take too long to create to do anything about the Ruin the Extinct. "As for what I needed to know, I suppose I found out a bit. Though if you have something to say, you should just say it because," she said.

'Hm, I still don't really compete with those on any real level... but if I can't do something about most or all of them, it will put the others in danger...' she thought as she held her right hand out in front of herself. But much like her Extinguished Star, she figured there was some way to make something equal. The Power of Destruction began to grow around her hand as she spun a secondary magic type into it, it would begin to condense within her palm. 'Well, if I am not as good with pure destruction, maybe a little extra will push it over?' she mused as scarlet eyes met her brothers. "I know my peerage is willing to go to extremes, both for me and for each other," she said with a smirk. "They invert their own powers," she said thinking about Hiroki. "Overcome their setbacks..." she murmured thinking of Youmu. "Push the limit and blow themselves up..." she said shaking her head about Izuna. "Face their fears and push their bodies to the limit..." she said thinking of both Miyuki and Maiko. Before hazarding a gentle glance at Takumi, a boy three days a devil who'd managed to pack more surprises into her days than she would have liked to admit. "And surprise the hell out of me, every time. But I knew most of that already... so what did you want me to see exactly, Nii-sama?~" she questioned because an outside perspective was sometimes necessary. Still the attack in her hand had its edges come together in a swirling mass, and it seemed to be complete. Eira herself looked it over and she wasn't sure what to make of this combination, but she was quite certain it was very different from her other uses of the Power of Destruction giving its internally volatile nature.

[Bloodedge]

Patiently, Sirtreize waited while Eira went about listing the extremes of her members. As she did this, she began to create a new application of the Power of Destruction, which Sirtreize imagined she intended to use against his Ruin the Extinct technique in some special way. "Of course you knew already. That's just how you are. There's something more deep within that, though. You'll just have to find that for yourself." As Sirtreize spoke, the orbs of Destruction began orbiting his body at a rapid pace, as if preparing some sort of assault. The next words to leave his mouth were much to the contrary of these movements, though. "So, Eira... What do you say we call this a draw?"

[Apollymi]

Eira looked at her elder brother as she held on to this orb, the power from within it, something very different from what she normally came up with. A chuckle escaped her as he mentioned that it was very her to know the things she'd already figured out about her peerage. Whatever the case, whatever he meant for her to see, was deeper than what she'd seen already. There were a lot of things deeper than what she'd already seen, most of them surrounding her newest acquisition, and her peerage's reaction to him. There was also the delicate balance of power among other things... but, she supposed that those were all things she'd have to fish through way later. "Hai hai, I'll find out when I need to know... I do appreciate the opportunity to see it though. Arigatou, Nii-sama~" she said of whatever it was she hadn't quite gotten yet. It didn't much matter as the orbs around her brother begin to cycle pretty heavily he asked her a question about finishing this particular Rating Game as a draw. She held up her right hand the violent little orb vibrating with energy. "A draw huh? I guess that is about the best outcome I can expect right now..." she said. "But... still, you should tell me what you think of this one. I think it might be my new favorite, also it doesn't have a name yet~" she chimed. Soon after she'd toss the orb forward leaving it to clash with the ones surrounding her brother. Upon making contact with any of those orbs, it would explode into a raging whirlwind made of the Power of Destruction, aiming to suck in the other orbs, with its rotational winds while wreaking pure havoc upon everything in its path. A sly smirk would escape Eira's face, as she aimed to take the draw offered soon after, choosing to bow to the crowd while retiring herself and all her remaining pieces to indicate it as such.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai hai. You'll figure it out; I'm sure of that," he said about what he'd intended to have Eira realize. As far as Sirtreize was concerned, as long as she was on the right track, he could happily end this Dice Figure Game and leave her, and her peerage, to their devices. He could tell that at least one of the young Devil's members would be requiring some form of care beyond what the staff of the Rating Games could/would offer. Eira had a different idea to the older male's, though. She may have been willing to accept the draw, but she first wished to showcase the technique she'd just come up with.

Sirtreize got to observe a sphere of Destruction become an impressive display of shape manipulation, taking on the form of a cyclone bent on consuming Sirtreize's orbs. Sirtreize placed his hands upon his hips to watch this technique unfold, wearing a grin on his face as he fixed his gaze. "Hmph," was his only utterance to the new offensive of Eira. He had nothing specific to say about it, but he felt his expression alone would say all that needed portraying. Since Eira was in the process of retiring herself and her underlings, Sirtreize allowed the same fate to befall him whilst the swirling Destruction marred the battlegrounds behind them.

[Apollymi]

Eira was around just long enough to see her brother's reaction to her newest creation. Strangely, she felt proud of herself in this moment, having agreed to the draw already and having retired herself she also disappeared along with what was left of her peerage to the places these ones tended to go when they retired. While this happened, Elsa a very confused announcer was left to try and figure out how to describe the culmination of the day's events. "It looks like we get to see a draw between Sirtreize and his younger sister. What a strange ending to an action-filled Rating Game. Thank you all for coming~" she finished up watching the end of the Rating Game take place with just as much confusion as she'd had when she'd been asked to help host it. In all fairness, Satan Leviathan could at least say, she hadn't witnessed a Rating Game so interesting in quite a long time.

Meanwhile, Eira was left in a building or rather a set of rooms which looked a bit conspicuously like a nurse's office. With several beds lined up. She looked around, aiming to spot the other members of her peerage finding first Youmu, who seemed to be strangely bandaged up but had those ice blue eyes of hers open. "Yare yare... between you and Takumi I don't know who will require more attention~" said Eira which made Youmu turn to face her. "I don't need attention, though, I wouldn't mind a bit," Youmu managed seeming to smile, she'd every much enjoyed her own confrontation even though she didn't win. "A draw huh? That's pretty interesting, Eir..." she said with nothing at all to say of her own injuries. "You guys did really well, all of you~ Arigatou Gozaimasu~" she offered the room, which also contained Miyuki and Maiko who were both still supporting Takumi, while transferring him to an unoccupied bed, while it was decided what they'd be doing.

[Bloodedge]

Following the conclusion of the Rating Game, Eira stood before her peerage in a room dedicated to the retirees' recovery. Among the conscious individuals here was Izuna, who seemed no worse for wear aside from the minor exhaustion remaining from his battle. "Oi, what about me!? I need the most attention here!" he said in his usual impish manner. Of course, Izuna was probably one of the people in better health overall, but he still felt it worth keeping a light mood over the whole ordeal. "The rest of you guys had a pretty good run out there. We were watching right to the end," he continued, excluding the still-unconscious Hiroki from his speech.

Another pair of Devils was to join this group as well. Sirtreize abandoned his own peerage after checking in on them, and brought with him Sairevil to Eira and her peerage's room. Without wasting any time at all, he stepped toward Eira and began speaking. "Good job in the match, everyone! It drew in a lot of attention that will do a lot of good for us all."

[Apollymi]

A grin crossed Eira's face as a claim came from Izuna that he was the one in need of the most attention. She loved her mischevious little fox boy and found his mood to be the type she enjoyed most in this situation. "You don't say? I'll make sure you get plenty of attention... I-zu-na~ Seems like you just want cuddling too~" Eira managed. This made Maiko chuckle and Miyuki laugh as they thought about Izuna needing more attention even though he was very much conscious compared to the others. "Yare yare, Hiro's still sleep huh? Guess everyone really will need my attention today~ That's fine I guess I missed being the one to do it anyways~" she chimed thinking about it, like it'd make for a fun night.

Before any real plans could be made for sleeping arrangements and missed school though. Sirtreize Lucifer was once again, within Eira's presence, wanting to speak with her and also congratulating her peerage. "Hai, arigatou gozaimasu..." was the speech of Miyuki, who managed to look abashed. Youmu simply turned to look at the man before raising a hand to him, and Maiko looked like her entire day had been made, and strangely had nothing to say either. "Hai hai, Nii-sama, glad we could help. But what brings you here? I was going to stop by before we left this time..." she said finding it strange that he wouldn't just be spending this time with the members of his own peerage. But doing so she noticed another with him and a smile spread across her face. "Revil!~ I missed you~" she said in greeting to her nephew, she held her arms open for him, expecting a hug, since she hadn't been able to find him in the party.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai. He was out like a light from the second he popped in, if my guess is worth anything. You know, like him," Izuna said first regarding Hiroki, then alluding to the also unconscious Takumi being carried by Maiko and Miyuki. He fell silent during the appearance of Sirtreize and his son, figuring there was more to this Rating Game than what had previously been mentioned, hence this sudden arrival.

True enough, Sirtreize did have more business with Eira. First though, Sairevil leaped at the woman he knew as his aunt, offering his embrace while accepting hers. "Eira~! I didn't see you earlier; I missed you too!" the boy spoke. He tightly squeezed the woman in his grasp, while Sirtreize began to speak about their appearance here. "Your peerage is missing only one piece, right? You can't have a true Rating Game unless you're at capacity, and it's a Rook you're missing. Revil won't fit into my peerage nearly as well as he would fit into yours, and after seeing your members first hand, he agrees it's the perfect place for him. So, what do you say?"

[Apollymi]

"That doesn't surprise me at all, that was a pretty hard hit... and he," she paused looking over at Takumi. "He exhausted himself beyond what he managed to do earlier," she said. Still it was more than a little relieving having her entire Peerage back around and mostly no worse for wear. Still there was the matter of her nephew who came to her, accepting the embrace she offered and squeezing her tightly. She returned this gesture before ruffling the boy's hair, it seemed he'd also missed her at the party, but such things happened from time to time. Surprisingly enough, her brother went on to explain that he felt his son would better fit in, within the confines of Eira's Peerage and since he was the piece she was missing a trade could take place so that she could properly participate in Rating Games and the boy could benefit in some way as well. Eira's eyes widened at this news and supposed question, she hadn't thought her nephew would want to be part of her Peerage and never really expected to be confronted by it as a likelihood. Obviously she didn't question the young man's abilities at all, she knew him to be quite a capable fighter. Still, before she answered her brother there was one thing she had to do. "Is that what you want Revil?" she asked the boy, with a very direct gaze of her crimson eyes. Except for the glaring exception that was Takumi, Eira always found herself wanting to be sure that the people of her peerage wanted to be in her service for as long as they wanted to be there. This was true given the abnormal way in which she chose to live, compared to most other devils. But, if it was truly something Sairevil wanted, she'd take him gladly as she adored her nephew.

[Bloodedge]

Sirtreize and the other members of his peerage had already seen to the farewells to send Sairevil off properly. The Crimson Satan had complete faith in the idea that Eira would accept the boy into her group, considering the positive nature of their relationship. All that he waited for now was confirmation, which Eira first sought from Sairevil himself. The boy released her after being questioned, and met her gaze with crimson eyes of his own. A firm nod was delivered to Eira, but it was not without words to accompany it. "Hai! I'd like to join you guys, if you'll have me," he said. During this exchange, Sirtreize took the initiative by drawing a magic circle around Sairevil, Eira and himself. This particular magic circle was not one of Sirtreize's spells, but one more generally used for the purpose of trading Evil Pieces between peerages. He knew Eira well enough to realize that her asking Sairevil his own thoughts on the exchange meant she would certainly accept him as her servant.

[Apollymi]

Eira waited for the reply from her nephew and it got her a nod and a verbal reply which was the sort she was looking for. The seriousness of her gaze was soon filled with light and a grin broke out over her face. "Kawaii!~ Of course, I'd love to have you~" Eira chimed. Before she even spoke these words though, Sirtreize had taken it upon himself to create the magic circle necessary to trade pieces. A chuckle escaped the young woman as she held in her hand the only remaining piece of her set, a single crimson rook. She happily nudged the boy towards the center of the circle since it was obvious he needed to be in it for this exchange to take place. "Nii-sama, am I really that easy to read?" she asked seeming to find it strange that he knew ahead of time, she'd be perfectly fine with this trade. She'd be elated to see the end of this exchange and take with her the last remaining piece of her peerage when she left.

[Bloodedge]

"Hai! Arigatou gozaimasu!" Sairevil said excitedly. He rolled with the nudge of Eira, taking his place in the center of the trading magic circle. One more part of this circle was needed, and that was the Rook Eira held in her hand when sending out Sairevil. Regardless, though, Sirtreize intended to be ready for the moment this piece joined the boy in the circle's center. He took his own place at the edge of the magic circle, where he held out his arms in wait for Eira to move along and do the same. While waiting, he had a chuckle brought about by her query. "Of course you are. I told you, didn't I?"

[Apollymi]

Sairevil thanked her for the opportunity to join her Peerage but Eira could only chuckle as the boy took his place within the center of the circle. "Iie, Revil..." she said with a knowing smile as she placed her last piece within this circle with him. "Thank you... for completing my Peerage~" she mentioned finding it to be the most perfect ending to the day she could have asked for. And with that she took her place on the outside of the circle and waited for the exchange to take place. This wouldn't happen without a bit of a pout though, as her elder brother fully acknowledged that she was in fact very easy to read. "Awww, of course you didn't tell me," she said sounding just a little dejected. Regardless of this fact, she was no less excited about her final piece than she would have been. While this exchange too place, the rest of her peerage watched, with Maiko being surprised. "Really? That's all it takes? A single magic circle and the two pieces to be exchanged? I figured there was something sinister involved with trading pieces since Eira-sama talks about never trading us unless we wanna go..." Maiko finished. Eira's eyes widened, because she thought it would be more obvious why she didn't want to trade any of her pieces. "Iie, it takes one more thing," Eira managed as she gave a quick glance in the direction of Maiko and pushed some of her own power into it. The act of trading pieces required both Kings to want to make the trade, and the pieces within to be of same creed. The very obvious reason Eira didn't make trades, is because she hand picked all of her peerage members and didn't want to give them up, because they wanted to be with her.

[Bloodedge]

"Well, maybe I figured it was just that obvious," was Sirtreize's only remaining response. Once Eira was prepared and willing to push the trade forward, Sirtreize met her efforts by swelling his own Demonic Power and focusing on the center of the magic circle. With both participants performing this ritual, the rest as a simple matter of passing time. The magic circle began registering Sairevil as the piece of Eira Gremory, while acknowledging the unused Rook as one belonging to Sirtreize Lucifer. Over time, the circle spun around and shrank, until it became nonexistent. This occurrence marked the end of the ritual, granting Eira her own nephew as the Rook to complete her peerage.

[Apollymi]

Eira's Demonic Power pushed against Sirtreize's until the trade of their pieces was complete and the circle beneath Sairevil and the unused Rook shrank into nothingness. A grin crossed her face as this finished and she once again opened her arms to the young man in question. "Come on then Revil~" she said with a knowing smile on her face. Maiko seemed excited as well, "Wooh!~ Got me a partner to help me sweep~" she said seemingly excited by the prospect. Youmu looked at the young lad and offered a nod, which was about all she ever did unless she felt like speaking and Miyuki nodded as well. "Hai, nice to have you along~" she chimed seeming to think it great that Eira finished her Peerage and got to spend extra time with her nephew. Soon after this though, Eira found herself looking to her brother, perhaps to ask him one more tiny favor. "Nii-sama, since it seems like I am going to need all the energy I can save..." she started with a smile. "Want to send us back to my place?" she asked him with a devious smile on her face. She knew it might be a while for the healing of everyone injured from her party, and she did promise the group a sleepover and she intended to keep her promise. With this the official end of their first Rating Game would be a thing.

[Bloodedge]

Following the exchange of Evil Pieces, Sairevil found himself once again in the embrace of Eira. He was now officially a member of a peerage of Devils in his own power tier, as opposed to his father's peerage, filled with members so powerful, he could not hope to catch up to them while being counted among their ranks. The young Gremory could now grow alongside his comrades; that alone being the reason for his direct participation in the recent Rating Game.

Sirtreize was left to answer one additional inquiry. Of course, this was more of a request than a question, but he chortled through a verbal response nonetheless. "And already, you want to go. Fine, fine. Be on your way then," he said with a grin. Without further ado, Sirtreize used his advanced teleportation ability to transport Eira and her members to the human world.