Rating Game Field

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The Rating Game (レーティングゲーム Rētingu Gēmu) is a competition between two Devils with a peerage. The Rating Game shares many similarities with the board game Chess. The Game Field is where all Rating Game matches take place and is located inside a section of the Dimensional Gap, protected by a barrier. This field was created by Ajuka and the technicians who work under him. The field itself provides a simulation of any environment or scenery for a game to take place in.

Rules

The game takes the form of a strategic battle between the King and his/her pieces. It is fought on a map of their choosing, and can be created to be a perfect replica of any location they desire. Only matured Devils are allowed to participate in official Rating Games. Aside from the normal rules, there are two more special rules for the Rating Game, the first being the Dice Figure Game and the second being the Scramble Flag Game.

Dice Figure Game

A variant of the Rating Game with different mechanics. Instead of long, full-team battle, it will be a blitz (short battle) with limited members. Both Kings will roll a six-sided dice (one each) and the number added up from both Kings will determine the value of Pieces (servants) to be sent. However Kings are not forced to completely use all the points (with the total value of eight, Kings can send two Knights and have two left over), which will be wasted and not added to next roll. Servants that consumed two or more Pieces of its kind will have the added-up value of the Piece (a servant that has consumed two Pawn Pieces will have the value of two, or a servant that have consumed two Knight Pieces will have the value of six). The value of each pieces are as follows:

• King = ranges from 1 to 12 Pawns depending on the estimated value given by the judging committee (based on the strength of the King themselves, value of their servants and comparison with the opponents).
  Queen = 9 Pawns
  Rook = 5 Pawns
  Knight = 3 Pawns
  Bishop = 3 Pawns
  Pawn = 1 Pawn (Base value)

Scramble Flag Game

A variant of the normal Rating Game where the goal of the game is to collect flags that are scattered around the battlefield. Unlike the rules in the normal Rating Game or Dice Figure Game where victory is achieved by defeating the "King", the Scramble Flag Game's victory is determined by the number of flags that are collected during the game.

Object Break Game

Another variant of the normal Rating Game where the goal is to break the 'objects' (Shape of a woman with Fallen Angel & Devil wings) scattered around the battlefield. There are a total of thirteen 'objects' and the first team to break seven of these 'objects' within the twelve hour time limit wins the match and just like in the normal Rating Game, victory can also be achieved by defeating the opposing team's "King". The field the players are transported to has the layout of a chess board and the areas are designated A1, C2, B4 etc. The 'Objects' scattered around can either be stationary or can be moved around by the players. They are either left in their original state, are placed in less noticeable places or are hidden in obscure places. When an 'object' is destroyed, the area it was located in is no longer allowed to be entered by the teams "Kings", narrowing down the areas the teams can move in. If both teams have destroyed equally the number of 'objects' when the time limit exceeds, then the match is a draw.

• Imprisonment: Tactics that can only be used if the object is movable. A team directs the enemy's "King" to the corner of the field, and contains objects transported by destroying them in the three surrounding areas. In order for the King to escape, special movement means such as casting with a "Rook" etc. must be used.

Lightning Fast Game

A short variant of the standard Rating Game. In the rules of the Rating Game, it is the rules utilising the shortest time limit and narrowest playing field. In simpler terms, it is a quick match (a blitz). Within the one hour time limit, whoever defeats their opponent's "King" wins. In the case that neither players can defeat the enemy king, a winning team is decided by the number of points calculated by the number of pieces each side has claimed from the other.

Board Collapse

A variant of the normal Rating Game. Both ends of the venue will collapse at the same time, where only the center will remain at the end. The narrowing of the field makes it so that places to hide and escape decrease and by the end, battle will be unavoidable. Confined spaces make it easier for there to be friendly fire, or being hit by a stray attack so setting up an advantage while the field is still wide will be a key point.

On the day of the Rating Game between Roxanna Phenex and Eira Gremory, both sides would be showing up to the Game Field. This space was one which several dozen sets of stands and had on either end a place for both Peerages to gather. In the center at the top a viewer box and within said view box was a woman. She looked relatively you with three shades of hair, two different forms of pink one magenta, one light and blonde streaks at the rear. This woman appeared to be dressed in a long dress which was green at the bottom and white at the top. It opened over ample bosom and was accented by strange black bands which appeared at various intervals on her person. She had startling green eyes and wore a smirk of knowing. She looked out at this crowd and found it strangely massive for an amateur match-up, but Roxanna Phenex hadn't shown up for a Rating Game in quite a while and the people were curious. And Eira Gremory was an aloof person who should be worth seeing so this wasn't very surprising. "Ladies and Gentleman! I'm your host, Marceline Cimerius~ What an exciting match up we have today. The Amateur Bracket shows us two fairly popular individuals going head to head. Roxanna Phenex and Eira Gremory? What challenges will the Rating Game present? My co-host for the evening should be able to cover that one... Satan Beelzebub!" this particular announcer seemed to be just as excited as the fans who cheered along. Some of them wondering why Satan Beelzebub would be spectating and commentating on a match so far down on the totem pole. Even so, there was a ton of excitement built up in this moment and it seemed to be spreading just a bit.

Indeed, the other officiator of the Rating Game was the Satan Beelzebub, Szavelneas. He sat beside the woman with multi-colored hair with a grin upon his face that could be considered lecherous depending on one's outlook. Alas, his reason for being here for this Rating Game was the same reason he jumped at the last opportunity between Eira's incomplete peerage and that of her brother the Crimson Satan: science. During Marceline's announcement, Szavelneas sat and chuckled to himself at the thought of many, many possibilities. This was going to be entertaining, but even more enlightening. "Today's match will be one for the ages. At long last, we see the return to the stage by Roxanna Phenex and her members, and we also get to see the first official match of Eira Gremory and her group. For those who weren't able to witness the incredible scrimmage match between Eira and our Crimson Satan Lucifer, subscribe to DeviTube Red to see the full game. For today though... we have a special game of Board Collapse! This is a new and exciting type of Rating Game created by the up-and-comer Nymphia Belial! Our contestants will have to deal with the field itself fighting against them on both ends, crumbling from the outside in to force them into closer quarters as the game goes on. Depending on the stage, there may also be... other obstacles as well. If you would be so kind as to unveil the stage," he concluded, directing his final clause to Marceline herself.

Marceline saw the look upon Satan Beelzebub's face, and though the two weren't directly connected, she knew enough about him to know that the look was something she was glad was no longer directed at her. The words spoken by this man about Eira Gremory and her Peerage made Marceline a bit curious she had her phone up on the table and logged into DeviTube Red so she could watch the match she'd missed, and become more informed about one of the participants sides. Moreover a completely new kind of match would be seen this day, invented by Nymphia Belial who was a direct descendent of the Satan beside her. All of this news was quite a lot to take in, but she still needed to do her part. "Here we have it, the Game Field designed for this first instance of the Board Collapse!" said Marceline.

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This field was a mysterious purple with a large moon in the middle of it shining over the entirety of the battlefield. The ground was far below any starting place so far in fact it wouldn't be safe to travel down to it as it was covered in a deeply misty miasma which would paralyze those who fell into it. Beyond all that, the main feature of this field were giant mushrooms. Various sizes shapes and different embodiment which could be seen across this field. Some were large enough to be considered fields themselves and some where small. And when they disappeared or were damaged they would release spores with various effects. In the middle one large mushroom larger than the others remained. This would be shown to the crowds as well as each of the Kings and their Peerages while they waited in their particular rooms. "This completely new game type is one which will require thoughtful use of strategy on the parts of the Kings and their pieces. The players will be transported to the field in three minutes the kings and their Peerages should come up with their strategies now!~ Good Luck to you all! Everyone else, wait for the exciting start... while I watch the highlights from the previous scrimmage, on DeviTube Red!~"

Meanwhile, on Eira's side she sat in a straight backed throne, which wasn't her usual one, but wasn't bad. "Nym got herself an official new game, huh? That's great for her, her special games are always fun to play..." she said having been used as a bit of an experiment for a couple of Nym's question and answer sessions which led to these sorts of developments. The female members of Eira's Peerage all had varying degrees of happiness or excitement on their faces as the planning periods of their Peerages began. "That's gonna be a bit dangerous... This game field is more hazardous than they possibly can be, especially knowing Nym. You'll have to fight as if you don't wish to break the ground around you. Disturbing the mushroom caps or falling off into the miasma are likely both dangerous. Of course, you could use that to your own advantage a bit depending on what it will end up doing..." she mused thoughtfully. "Besides that, if the board is collapsing from the outside in, then the easiest strategy would be to try and trap everyone at the back end of their field and get them disqualified. And the one who holds the midfield gets the largest advantage. So the simplest way to ensure victory would be to claim the middle, but it obviously can't or won't be that easy..." she aloud as she began to formulate a strategy and very easily analyzed the potential pitfalls. Her eyes glowed with crimson light and the smile on her face was something close to villainous but that wasn't it really. Eira was beyond excited about something like this, because it favored no one innately. It was all strategy.

The type of Rating Game these two peerages were soon to have leaned quite heavily on strategy. To Izuna of Eira's peerage however, there was something else to be taken from this battlefield. Following Eira's assessment, he made his own assertion from beside her. "I don't think they've got a lot of strengths over any of us. We could probably blitz them before the stage shrinks and take out at least half," he said, doing his best to keep his own distaste for some members of Roxanna's peerage from clouding his judgement. Hiroki stepped up after hearing this, and surprisingly, he wasn't too bothered by the idea. "I... actually don't dislike that. I could easily heal anyone who manages to take damage early on if we did that sort of thing," the blonde added. Sairevil was the final male to speak on this topic, and he didn't seem to care one way or the other. "Whatever we do, we'll win! I'm gonna retire more people than anybody else!"

"Blitz huh?" Eira said, considering seriously the suggestion. It was true that given Roxanna's own personality they weren't likely to encounter anyone who could in a straight forward way overpower any singular member of Eira's own Peerage. Strangely for Eira herself, she heard the agreement of Hiroki who agreed to heal up anyone who managed to get hurt in the quicker part of the battle. "Kawaii!~ Hi-ro-ki!~ I didn't expect you to agree with something like that..." Eira said aloud. She chuckled as Revil mentioned that he planned to take out more singular targets than any other individual. She supposed he should be trying to win as much as possible at anything. And she trusted him to make reasonable decisions in battle at least. Maiko looked up while pulling those red gloves onto her hands. "Hell yeah! Sounds like we get to blitz!~" she said slamming her now gloved fists together. Eira had that slightly sinister smirk spread across her face once more. "Hai hai... a straight blitz is a disaster. It wins physically, and outright demoralizes," Eira said firmly, strangely using the word disaster to apply to what the other team would feel it as. "I do have one thing to ask of you though Miyuki..." she said to the purple eyed girl who managed to look a bit stunned. "Hai, Eira-nee!" the girl said willing to take any order. There was one thing which Eira considered happening which Miyuki would be perfect for, so she leaned in to give the girl a special whispered order.

On the other side of the battlefield though, there was a different kind of discussion happening. One in which orders were begin given and no opinions being taken. Such was about normal for their group of people. "Ugh, new game huh... still though it would be pretty easy to cut them off at the pass... Nexis... when we go out make a flame wheel around their side of the field. We can keep them locked in that way, and likely have a few of them fall off before they try to take us. And we straight up outnumber them already so... it should be really easy to take them out. Two to one if you have to." she said giving this order to everyone else. "They'll be fish in a barrel and I'll take the middle. That way, any stragglers have to get past me," she said calmly. She thought herself the strongest regardless of the status of her other members. "Inuyasha, Helga that Knight of hers will probably take both of you. Stark and Lily, one of her bishops doesn't even fight, but I am not sure about the little girl, but she should be easy enough to take out regardless." she said to all of them. "Pawns out front taking all comers, until its clear which other pieces are which. Once it is, find your match and take them out." This was the overall strategy of Roxanna Phenex and would be the last thing announced before both groups were alerted to the timing of their planning period. "Alright fans. Teleportation in 10 seconds. Everyone at the ready!~" this was the announcement of Marceline as she watched with wide eyes.

"I didn't expect to agree myself, but I honestly can't find a fault in the plan. You know, assuming Roxanna Phenex doesn't have something stronger than Senpai," he said in jest. Izuna huffed upon hearing this, believing this couldn't possibly be the case even while he refused to use his true power. Regardless of what happened with their going strategy, it seemed as if they were all confident in their ability to emerge victorious. There was also a hint of something else beneath the surface, and in none more than Izuna... though a strong second to the former Youkai was Takumi, who stood behind the others with a great fire burning in his eyes. At the call of the last ten seconds, he looked up and sighed, being more than ready to move on to the battle.

Meanwhile on Roxanna's side, one of her members who appeared to be a man in his mid-to-late twenties opened an eye from his sleeping position behind the others. "What's even the point?" he asked rhetorically, sounding as if he was midway through a yawn as he spoke. A much younger-looking girl with a strange helmet and hardly a thing to cover herself jumped atop him, knocking the wind out of him briefly. "Sutaakuuu~! Wake the hell up; we've got to show them what we're made of!" she exclaimed whilst tugging on the man's face. "Ugh! Fine, fine. Whatever it takes for me to get back to sleep."

A grin came to Eira's face as it was mentioned that the plan was solid so long as no one on Roxanna's Peerage was stronger than Izuna. Truly Eira didn't imagine the Phenex heiress being able to tame someone stronger than Izuna, more went into placing pieces in the bodies of people than most would be aware of, taming someone like Izuna also likely wasn't supposed to be possible. But that was an entirely different matter. As the countdown to teleport them began and after 10 seconds, they'd disappear and appear atop a mushroom on the far left side of the field all together. Meanwhile, the same would occur with the entirety of Roxanna's Peerage albeit from the right. The announcers looked out over the battlefield. "Everyone at their places. Remember, taking a King ends the match!~ And show us what you're all made of~" said Marceline. "GO!" such would start the match up between Roxanna's Peerage and Eira's and it would start strangely on Roxanna's side.

In the front of Roxanna's group was a young woman with light blonde hair clad in layers of red stood before the group. She had in her hand a large staff with a candle at the top and it began to glow rapidly and fire began to erupt from it. Five glowing balls of fire would erupt and immediately spread about, her target of course the first mushroom that the entire Gremory Peerage was now standing on. All the flames would surround the group and she'd simply step back after giving a minor bow to Roxanna, who had a smirk of sheer arrogance on her face. Eira might have been in good with people, but Roxanna felt like she had the edge in battle experience and that meant she could win this. Strangely, Eira didn't move to react to this, instead a small girl with black hair and large purple eyes stepped up in front of Eira. "Sou ka... Eira-nee..." she said happily. After she spoke she began growing between her hands a long white sword, doing so she stood in front of the group. "Juhaku..." she said sticking the sword into the top of the mushroom, she caused ice to spread outward from herself and all around them, this quickly overtook the flames causing a mass of steam to build up in front of them, blocking Eira's group from the vision of those directly in front of them. "Take them out!" she gave the order. Youmu immediately took off at a high pace her only aim to find and immediately conquer both the knights currently owned by Roxanna. Maiko also took off immediately taking an outside position to the far left as she aimed to move forward but not directly into the middle. Miyuki after clearing what was in front of her, headed off to the far right to do the same thing. And Eira was content to leave everyone else to blitz and choose their own targets.

Roxanna's peerage made the opening move, though it wasn't very effective at all thanks to the efforts of a Bishop belonging to Eira. The lazy Bishop of Roxanna and the girl who most often associated with him moved forward when it appeared Eira's team was intending to assault them directly. The former had half of a masquerade mask appear over his left eye, seeming to work something like a scope as he looked across the battlefield and through the steam at Miyuki. A long and ornate pistol appeared in his left hand, and within a single breath of Eira's blitz order, he unleashed from his gun a deep blue beam of energy that tore through the air and moved along a perfect lead into Miyuki's path, aiming to engulf her full body as she moved. "That's the Bishop," he said. The girl referred to by Roxanna as Lily spoke up in response while checking the others who were mobile. "Hmm. I wonder where the one who doesn't fight is."

Izuna sighed when he realized Eira's plan for Miyuki was something so simple. "Really? I could've dealt with that and made an epic entrance, y'know," he said. Still, he made no moves just yet. He knew what he wanted to do in this fight, but first, he had to see what the Bishop from their previous meeting with Roxanna would do next. "I'm taking out that fake fox. Then... I think I'll take Roxanna's head. Those three should be able to clear out a good number of guys before then."

Eira smiled at Izuna's assertion that he could have handled the opening move and had a much better opening. "Iie, Miyuki is still skittish, she needs to feel comfortable making her own decisions in battle post the last two games. I notice when I give her small tasks at the start she focuses a bit better and doesn't spend too much time thinking on her next move. She gains better reaction times if she already has something in mind," Eira mentioned as after the opening move a blast of energy was fired off in Miyuki's direction. Even so there was the matter of what Izuna was referring to as far as his claiming of certain individuals. "I agree. I don't know how good of an idea it will be to go for Roxanna while she's comfortable. So, go ahead and take your fake fox, by my own approximation they don't move unless they were ordered to and that one failed a little so she'll be trying to make it right," Eira concluded while Fennexis moved forward. Though she recognized the Queen of Eira's Peerage as 'stronger' by right, she still didn't believe in the mismatch. Besides that the Queen of Roxanna's Peerage never did anything.

The raven haired Yuki-onna had her own eyes widen for just a moment as she seemed to be incapable of dealing with this energy. Eira seemed less concerned about this than most would assume given how affectionate she was with her Peerage in general. And Miyuki's whole body seemed to be engulfed by the blast as well, only instead of such a thing retiring her, a puddle appeared where she would have landed and her body floated above by use of her devil wings. She seemed a bit flushed and blue in the face but beyond the singe applied to her garments she seemed to be alright. Instead below Lilynette and Stark two separate large glowing white circles formed and with the rise of her hand aimed to encase both of these individuals in ice, it would take only second to happen. Such a spell would shatter with a person inside of it if that person was weaker than Miyuki herself, causing their 'death' or in this case retirement. While the stronger opponent might be able to free themselves. If they were trapped she would exhale a cold chill, causing crystals of ice to reform on her person in a barely visible way. While she lowered herself to her intended platform towards the right and close to the front, ready to see what came of her spell.

"Huh? Are you dumb or something? Obviously he's somewhere not fighting," Starrk replied to his companion. While doing so, he watched his target be engulfed in his shot, though the girl emerged nearly unscathed soon afterwards. He sighed at this sight. "Yare yare. I hate fighting Bishops," he said while setting his gaze upon the water puddle under the contact point of his blast. "Well I hate fighting with a Bishop! Make a stronger shot next time!" Lilynette added, much to her partner's annoyance. As the glowing white circles formed beneath this pair, they were both alerted to something being formed against them. Though they couldn't tell what member of Eira's peerage had created such a thing, Lilynette managed to use her small figure to her advantage and hop out of the ring before it triggered its freezing effect. Starrk however, had been bothered enough by Lilynette's ramblings to be a bit slower on the uptake.

Two pillars of ice rose, and both Starrk and Lilynette seemed to be out of harm's way beside the ice, looking toward Miyuki while pinning her as the culprit. "Mendokuse. This one fights at range too. This is gonna be annoying." Starrk raised his gun and set Miyuki in his sights again when she landed. He and Lilynette were free of the ice, and now knew what to look out for. However... "Damnit Starrk! Pay attention!" the girl yelled, drawing his attention away from his would-be second shot. In avoiding Miyuki's attempt to freeze him, he had jumped back by leading with his upper body. His left leg was firmly atop the mushroom cap beneath him, but it seemed his right leg had been trapped within the ice pillar from foot to mid-shin. "Eh?" he muttered. Right away, Starrk began banging his gun against the ice, while Lilynette grew more visibly annoyed by the second. "Damn Bishops and their tricky magic..."

Meanwhile, Izuna set his gaze upon Fennexis. True enough, she made no further moves quite yet. Izuna was content to await such a thing, but he felt something was more and more strange about this battle as a whole without having a clue what it could have been. Either way, his attention remained on the Bishop he intended to take down. "Hmm. Well, if she tries to fix her own screw-ups... I'll be waiting. Know anything else about these guys being worth any salt? You've probably seen a lot more of their games than I have, since... you know... I haven't watched any of them."

Miyuki knew she hadn't properly captured both of her intended targets. There were no faces in the ice and no telling sign of their disappearance. Her ice armor had fully reformed so she was safe to continue her assault still holding on to her Yuki-onna form as a trump card in case things got a bit too hairy. In the meantime, now that she was on the ground and she saw at least no more shots coming her way, and the banging of the males gun against the ice that was the pillar which hadn't shattered she got an idea. "Juhaku." The spell she'd used to disrupt the flames earlier spread out from the tip of her blade touching the pillar of ice and aiming to spread the binding further up his leg, aiming to freeze gun arm and torso to the pillar she'd created already. By her approximation his ability to shoot from a distance was a real problem they should be trying to get rid of as quickly as possible. Strangely ice would continue crawling toward Lilynette as well aiming to entrap her from the bottom and grow ice spikes beneath her as well.

Meanwhile, Eira and Izuna continued a battlefield planning conversation, as the blitz continued before them. She thought about the games of Roxanna's she's watched on DeviTube and she'd come to a few conclusions about the lass and her Peerage before the onset of this battle. "As far as I can tell, Roxanna is probably the strongest person on her Peerage, given who and what she is and how hard it is to get around her actual ability. The guy that Miyuki is fighting is a bit more likely to be a problem if he actually decides to do something, his aim is impeccable. Sköll your new friend from yesterday is incredibly strong and in the matches I saw, she usually doesn't lose a one-on-one. I don't know what kind of pup she is, but... whether she's just always being underestimated or not... she's definitely worth way more than Roxanna gives her credit for," Eira said of this group at large, putting her analytical skills to the test. There was however one more person, she'd seen do something only once. "She has a white haired girl as well... I only saw her active in one match, and she only faced one person... but that person almost died. She doesn't seem to act unless she's given orders, so I can't really say how much of a problem she's going to be. But I went pretty far back in Roxanna's matches to see her, she's been on the Peerage the entire time, and we've never met her," Eira said calmly. "Inuyasha is your friend from before, he seems to be a bit problematic, but Youmu enjoys things like that. Given the enchantment on that necklace of his, he's probably also a one of the strongest on that Peerage. Everyone else seems to be normal, but I noticed in all of her other matches they don't move until ordered to, they lack fast pacing and the ability to make their own decisions, but they follow orders to the letter," Eira concluded. This was about all the battle information that she could give, soon after this another ring of fire came to engulf this particular duo as Fennexis aimed to trap King and Queen of Eira's Peerage atop a single mushroom as the one behind them and the ones at the farthest right disappeared.

"Baka!" Lilynette yelled to her partner. "Just shoot it off!" During this time, just as Starrk was given the realization that his battering tactic was getting him nowhere with this ice, his gun struck it again. The ice began crawling up his leg, and his gun stuck to it and began taking this spread at the final impact. Lilynette, too, was captured by ice from beneath her while she yelled at Starrk. For whatever reason, Starrk seemed far, far more distraught by the idea of his partner being consumed than he was about his own potential freezing. "Lilynette!" he called out, reaching for her with his right hand instead of making an effort to stop the ice nearing the end of his limbs. Lilynette reached out as well, bringing their hands together as a result. She had but one thing to say. "Baka! Get off your lazy ass!"

Something strange occurred during this meeting of hands. The ice around Lilynette shattered as she disappeared, seeming to convert herself into the form of a second gun which matched Starrk's original copy. Starrk's expression became something a bit more focused as he aimed the barrel of this gun toward the ice pillar in front of him and blasted it away, leaving him free aside from the ice encasing his left arm and leg, as well as the gun held in the former. "Mendokuse. Oi, ice girl. Stop being so damn annoying," he said as his gaze set upon Miyuki again.

Izuna listened to Eira's assessment of Roxanna's peerage and their abilities, and he wasn't at all impressed. There were a few things here and there, such as his knowledge of Inuyasha's natural capabilities before acquiring whichever weapon he knew the lad was likely to have. There was also the matter of Sköll, whom he knew a bit more about by virtue of his own understanding as a canine who lived in this world for so long. Sköll in particular was one he took issue with in this group, and his explanation of this would soon come. "I don't have all the specifics, but that Sköll is one of the strongest Pawns I've ever seen. She's Norse, no doubt... and she's got the smell of something that's probably stronger than me on her."

Miyuki found herself still trying to capture this duo of people, and her efforts seemed to be getting somewhere. Though Miyuki was friendly in general she'd gone without speaking for the duration of this, mostly because her mind was too busy thinking of ways to properly abuse the magic she was thinking of using. Strangely, when Starrk took hold of Lilynette's hand the latter turned into another gun to also be wielded by the former. Miyuki's eyes widened at this sight and she spoke her first word as she shot away her ice and she discontinued her efforts to conserve a bit more energy. "S-su-sugoi!" she said with wide eyes. She'd never seen anything like what had just happened before and wondered why this sort of thing had happened. Of course, by the time the man finished freeing himself and stood up he was looking at her, and apparently had some less than friendly words for the lass. "Ryuume Miyuki desu..." she said giving her name to avoid being called 'Ice Girl' for the duration of this fight as such terms were associated with bad times in her mind. "Su-su-mimasen... I don't mean to be annoying," she said seeming to be truly apologetic. Even so she had a job to do, and as always, for Eira she'd do her absolute best. As such she made several slashes casting off ice based crescents at this man in rapid succession three in total aiming to further add to the ice and maim him while seeing exactly what this new form of his was capable of.

Meanwhile, Eira heard out what Izuna had to say and watched as flames surrounded them and Fennexis came into view just over the edge of this current mushroom. She didn't say anything immediately but the circle of fire created around this duo began to close in a bit, still Eira seemed less than perturbed by this, enough that she continued her conversation with Izuna as if it was wasn't happening. "Norse huh? That energy is pretty different from any I've felt before..." Eira thought aloud, having a strange idea about snagging a small taste of it just to see what it was like, which was strange considering how little she generally used abilities like that. She bashed herself in her own mind. 'I gotta stop thinking like that... people aren't snacks,' she reaffirmed her own thoughts on the subject before going back to the topic at hand. "If she was fighting of her own accord she'd be a lot more dangerous. Regardless her place here bothers me as well, but... it looks like our chat is over for now... care to show off a bit. I have a resting temperature I like to maintain unless I am taking a bath," mentioned Eira about the encroaching flames. She chose specifically not to do anything about because she knew that Izuna had marked this one as one of his targets. "Feel free to continue talking... I would rather wait a bit longer and make you both fall, I have no desire to fight two people at once..." Fennexis said calmly that serene smile on her face becoming even more annoying to Eira than it had been the first time she'd seen it.

Starrk referring to Eira's Bishop as 'ice girl' seemed to be taken with a dash of salt, given her expression and tone when offering her proper name. Starrk, though not exactly concerned by his own appearance, responded in kind. "Ryuume. Sou ka. Starrk," he replied. Following this, Starrk's ears were assaulted by the stammering of his opponent. For one who produced ice as her presumable primary offense, he wondered why she would have such a tick, and for what reason. However, it was neither his place nor concern to ask. "Mendokuse." He stared down this girl, observing with light curiosity as she raised her weapon of ice, and raising his free gun in the face of it. His eyes grew wider as he watched the waves of ice emerge from Miyuki's blade. He had time to react to this, but not time enough to avoid pulling something he considered a bit of a trump card. So, he lowered his gun while firing another beam that unleashed itself without hesitation... from his chin. The blast was long-lasting enough that he was able to cleave through the trio of slashes by turning his head slightly. He seemed to hate having to do this when he did, but he couldn't risk having the ice take more of him before he recovered. Now that he had what he believed to be a good example of his enemy's ability to fight at range, he decided to form an offense, thinking she had to at least be kept on edge to avoid having her pull any more tricks. His right gun rose again, and it seemed to fire one incredibly massive and continuous blast compared to what he made previously. In actuality though, this was the rate of fire Starrk boasted. He had released so many consecutive normal blasts so quickly that their density and grouping appeared to make them one.

Eira and Izuna continued discussing Sköll and her position on Roxanna's peerage versus the power she likely wielded. During Eira's speech, an interruption brought itself to them. If nothing else... it was a very welcome interruption for Izuna, as it was just the person he wanted to eliminate more than anyone else. "Don't like it too hot unless it's water, huh?" he asked rhetorically of Eira. With that, his attention turned to Fennexis. At this point, Izuna also had no concern for the ring of fire surrounding Eira and himself, though he did have some amount of care to offer to Fennexis' opening statement. "You're some special kind of stupid, aren't you? Everybody on this field right now knows... you only get to fight me today," he said as his left hand rose enough to sweep horizontally and clear the ring of flames from around them. "Eh? This isn't even Fox Fire. That's pretty boring, ya'know?"

"Starrk-san?" the girl sounded a bit confused about it, her brows furrowing as she was trying to decide if this man was way older than she thought he was and deserving of more respect, or younger and tired and thus would be offended. Regardless her ice launched crescents soon met their end in a very unorthodox way. Her eyes widened in this moment because she hadn't expected a blast from anything but the guns in his hands. "S-su-sugoi!" the girl said as her attack all but disappeared and she was soon left to deal with an offense which she had some inkling was coming given the direction of the one of the guns he wielded. Already having the time she held her sword in front of her, using it to cast several barriers in front of her all with ice woven between them. The shots that came through the first few would be slowed enough for the girl to move out of the way of the coming blasts but she was by no means a fast moving individual and found herself snagged at least a bit by this constant barrage which felt like several things all at once. The ice shell around her body cracked but didn't break completely and she found herself blue in the face exhaling ice to fix it. "Haahh... " she breathed out while dragging her sword behind her. In a moment a single thread of ice spread from where she was as if going towards him, aiming to take up place beneath him and grow into spikes, to try and keep him from shooting too much at her. "That, was a bunch of little shots right? Sugoi! They go so fast, I've never done anything like that..." she said seemingly amazed by this man's use of magic. She was of course, quite the magic nerd and it seemed to shine in moments like this, even allowing her to lose the stutter she had due to the nervousness of the moment.

"Yeah, well I don't like it thrown at me or anything, but a nice hot bath, or a hot spring... I can get into those," Eira mentioned haphazardly knowing that this was exactly the fight that Izuna was looking for, and watching as the flames around them disappeared almost instantly. Such a thing made Fennexis' eyes widen slightly she hadn't expected such a thing and had truly been content to let these two fall where they were. "You are quite rude... I really have no idea what Roxanna would have wanted with someone like you..." she said in response to Izuna's opening statement. The rest though required something a bit different. "Oh? Fox Fire huh? One has to wonder if you're trying to goad me into something..." Fennexis said seemingly amused though her next move made her step forward again, her hair bristling with power as it seemed to take on the shape of fox ears and and she gained a bit of a fox aspect to her person. 'Hmm, that's a bit too underwhelming to be cute,' Eira thought as a general assessment. Regardless Fennexis had something else to show, with this aspect of a kitsune surrounding her, she used a spell. "Mystical Fire!" it created from itself a collection of five large flames at her side and made them appear around Izuna and Eira yet again, this time turning them into a swirling raging tornado of flames of a higher strength than those used previously which would continue to burn as long as Fennexis willed them to. She full expected such a thing to cause the pair of individuals to be burned up enough to trigger the Rating Game to retire at least the Queen of Eira's Peerage. This action caused some unexpected commentary from Marceline as she watched from the stands. "Hoh? Seems like someone from Roxanna Phenex's Peerage has Eira Gremory and her Queen on the defensive? What will come of this moment... I guess we'll have to wait and see!~" the crowds attention was already switching to this and it seemed for this moment, Izuna would get his shine time.

"I could set everything on fire and make you think it's a hot spring, if that works for you," Izuna said to Eira with a light chuckle, though his expression toward Fennexis was an aggressive one. His apparent 'rudeness' seemed to be some sort of issue for her. Interestingly enough, Izuna's issue with Fennexis was something he considered far beyond rude treatment. "I don't know what she expected from me either. I'm too much for her." In response to his commentary about Fennexis' flames, the Bishop took a new form, if it could be called that. She did indeed have the likeness of a fox, albeit only in spirit. Her mentality was a far cry from what the Kitsune he knew would deem acceptable, and the likes of something Izuna despised to his very core. He could not show kindness to such a thing. Izuna stared her down even as she used this form to produce a flame tornado around Eira and himself. His visage disappeared within this swirling fire, but his voice emerged when he heard the assertion of Marceline in the announcer's booth. "Defensive? Don't make me laugh!"

Suddenly, blue flames began swirling along with the fire produced by Fennexis, forming its own spiral within the existing tornado. This flame continued to grow until it consumed Fennexis' flame and spread out, freeing both Eira and Izuna - the latter of whom now sported an old traditional brown kimono with a red haori, fox ears and a single tail, as well as a small ponytail from a slight growth to his hair. Wisps of blue Fox Fire formed around him one after another, each one producing a powerful surge of Youki from their manifestation alone before immediately flying off toward Fennexis, boasting heat which rivaled the flames used by Dragons, and an even greater amount of force produced by virtue of being Izuna's energy. At the same time, a number of these flames appeared around Eira as if they were forming a setup akin to proper will-o-wisps to keep foreign energies at bay. "Oi, oi! You're some kind of freaky scholar with no morals, right? You wouldn't have a problem being cremated, would you!?"

Izuna's offer to set everything on fire and make Eira believe it was a hot spring made the heiress laugh just a little. "Ufufufufu~" she chuckled, though she had no interest in that sort of thing, she still realized why Izuna would have said something like that. "Iie, I'll just go to a hot spring myself. Or dream about one, if I ever manage to get to sleep..." she said happily. Still Fennexis said that she didn't know what Roxanna expected from him and he claimed he was too much for her. She managed to look at him strangely. "You might be strong and willful but I wouldn't go that far, everything has a breaking point," she said having in her own mind a good general assessment of this lad and not figuring him for much but a kitsune. Izuna even went on to challenge what the announcer said which made Eira's eyes widen just a little. "Yare yare, don't antagonize the announcers... they are just doing their jobs," she chided not at all meaning it. Marceline managed to looked shocked by the assertion but still watched in awe at the changed clothing and attitude of the Queen of Eira's Peerage. "Oh my... it seems like something strange is happening here. A change in attire, and form... and a more accurate control of fire, blue fire to be exact!!~" it seemed Marceline was interested in the development. Eira watched the entire thing with wide eyes and looked on at Izuna in his fox form with childlike glee. "Kawaii!~ I-zu-na!~" she chimed though she realized the amount of murderous intent the lad possessed.

Fennexis on the other hand was being introduced to something very different. The blue flames which dissipated her tornado did so without her intending it to happen. The power of the flames burst against her concentration almost concussively making her appear stunned for a moment. "Nani? What kind of fire is that?" she asked as if confused by its existence. She produced a wall of flames before her, using her current spiritual form to try and wall off from these fire balls flying towards her which were small and so would by her own approximation be swallowed up by a larger flame. She was wrong. Several of these balls flew straight through surprising the lass and burning her torso extensively and knocking her back with their power. The little mage stumbled and tried to intensify the heat of her own flames as she made several cursed balls of flames and launched them towards both Izuna and Eira. Again, Eira didn't seem to be bothered by anything happening around her, and instead found herself a bit mesmerized by the blue flames around her. "Sugoi!~ I haven't seen these in ages..." she murmured appreciatively. Fennexis had something else to say entirely particularly to the murderous comment aimed her way. "Iie, you are strong, I'll admit that... but cremation isn't something I'd be okay with. I really don't understand your issue with me... morals hold back proper development, you can't learn if rules stop you from delving properly into topics." she said, which made Eira roll her eyes. She knew plenty of mages who managed to learn and better themselves without sacrificing the health and safety of those around them, she had a few such beings on her peerage and in her family.

"Heh!" was Izuna's only reaction to Fennexis' claim that everyone had a breaking point. She couldn't possibly know that he hadn't lied at all when saying he was too much for one such as Roxanna to handle. Even if he'd made it to her peerage, she had no way of controlling him the way she did her other servants. Alas, perhaps some enlightenment would come before Fennexis was retired. When Fennexis showed her confusion as to the type of fire Izuna had thrown at her, he scoffed. "It's Fox Fire. You know... from a real fox," he stated. Following Fennexis' attempt to defend against his fire, she retaliated with her own. Izuna weaved through the barrage of fireballs while floating ever closer to his enemy. In doing so, he left Eira behind, knowing the flames he formed around her were in place to form a barrier between and around themselves to shield the heiress from projectiles. "Oi. Don't talk to me about rules. All I do is break rules over, and over, and over again... but..." The expression in the Youkai's face became angrier by the moment. He'd had more than enough of this Bishop, and it showed here and now. As he made his approach, an even more powerful blue flame appeared at the tip of his tail, which began rotating like a rudder to move the flame around until he closed in on Fennexis. "Having morals is something completely different! If you're going to hurt the people around you instead of help them, who are you developing for!? You're nothing but trash who doesn't deserve power!"

As Izuna spoke, he reached a space in the air in front of Fennexis. Eyes with a mysterious glow were set on her, and the flame at his backside reached a speed which momentarily made it seem as if there were nine of them hovering around him at the rear. At the same time, one might mistakenly see something like a shadow around the Queen - one which appeared to have nine tails attached to it and leading out to each flare. This was brief however, as the flame eventually swirled itself into the form of a cyclone which radiated Izuna's Youki across the battlefield. "Hi no Uzu!" The single moving flame suddenly erupted into a horizontal cyclone of blue fire, encircling Izuna's body and traveling forward to place Fennexis within its eye as well. In moving forward however, it also filled itself in, threatening to engulf her in an inferno of immense burning power and explosive force capable of reducing nearly anything caught within it into smoldering ashes scattered along the wind.

Eira continued to stand still and watch the ongoing battle, even as flaming little balls of cursed magic were sent her way. She made no move to defend herself and Fennexis might have thought something good would come from at least a couple of them colliding with the heiress. Soon though it became apparent that the blue flaming balls surrounding Eira were also a barrier of sorts, with energy connecting between them leaving the crimson haired young woman completely at ease while Izuna moved forward after replying to a couple of Fennexis' commentaries in a very snarky way. "Sugoi!~ I always did enjoy these~" Eira said aloud. But soon something even more incredible would happen.

"Iie, morals are rules... and power dictates what rules you have to follow," this was a very common philosophy shared by those without morals who thought to abuse their positions to get their way. And beyond her general distaste for Roxanna, Eira really didn't like Fennexis' commentary either, but with it already being taken care of, she was content with watching, a smile on her face and her hands resting on her hips. 'Hm, I hope they are properly calibrated for this level of power... Izuna's mad again, and this one just keeps making it worse,' she thought absently, knowing that the loss of a piece like Fennexis would be a bit hit to the ego of one like Roxanna. The movements of Izuna were seen by Fennexis, and his words about fox fire were all but lost. She used the fire of the fox spirit within her body and it still wasn't comparable. Still she watched as his next attack was launched and tried to prepare her defense, but really there wasn't much to be done. 'Ichi, ni...' she started counting but her eyes widened as she could have sworn this lad had nine tails if only for a moment. The form of fox that his power gave off was also something utterly astounding. "BAKANA! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" she shouted as the barriers created by her fire were put in place before her only for her to see the swirling vortex coming in the form of heavy blue flames. There was nothing she could do, no where she could go, she was stunned, surely this boy couldn't be a Kyuubi. A male Kyuubi simply wasn't possible, was it? The flames of her barriers were shattered upon impact as her body spiraled out of sight, the only thing to be heard a piercing scream. Instead of the visuals of ashes blowing away on the wind... all that was left was an eerie green light which signaled the lasses' retirement. Marceline looked on at this in awe, she was sure she'd seen it too, the form of this lad for only a moment. "Alright folks I am not sure what that was, but I am pretty sure, Eira's Queen fully earned the nickname Priest of Fire. Roxanna Phenex is down a bishop, and things still look like they are just getting started. He never even broke a sweat... pretty amazing right?" she asked in a leading way for the Satan at her side, knowing this kind of power output was just up his alley.

Roxanna for her part in this, watched as Eira's Queen did away with one of her more favored Peerage Members. Her eyes widened and the sound of her screams was something which seemed to hit home for the lass. She became furious, wondering what other kind of power was hidden on this Peerage of Eira's that they could take out one of her good people. "Oi! I said find your matches when they were obvious... how long are you gonna space out like that, Shira. Go kick that Queen's ass... I'm tired of looking at her be so fucking calm out here!" Roxanna demanded, seeming to have a deep seated hatred of the kind of calm Eira maintained in this situation of pressure. Inside she faltered just a little. 'Why can't I have him? I want him! Why is it always someone like her!?' this innate malice was directed at Eira as the lass looked towards her but didn't move from where she'd posted herself in the middle of the game field. All the while, another tier of the field fell forcing these groups into ever closer quarters with one another. Hopping quietly forward was a young woman with pure white hair and a bland expression. She looked up at Roxanna with something close to distaste in her eyes as she considered what she'd been told. A small smile came to her face as she managed a reply, knowing that she couldn't be forced to do anything at all. Her white robes made her look a bit like a priestess and her presence was frighteningly powerful but pleasant as she moved. "Oh? A new day dawns when one such as Roxanna Phenex chooses to try and force my actions personally. Kitsune-dono will greet me when he is ready... I needn't rush in senselessly," she said these words calmly but the way her eyes cut to Roxanna made it obvious that she had absolutely no intention of doing as she was told in any manner so direct. But she also knew it was possible to satisfy both her own needs in this moment and her master, and did so simply by sending a pulse of her own energy across the battlefield towards Izuna as if it was an invitation. Eira would speak to Izuna in this moment with mild shock in her form. "Hoh? I wonder what that could be?" she phrased this as a question but knew Izuna would catch her meaning.

One other individual saw this hint of eight additional tails upon Izuna's form. It wasn't a real thing in any way, but the vague shadow alone was enough. As Marceline spoke to the crowd, Szavelneas - the other person to notice - bore the widest, most maddening of grins. His eyes were nearly falling out of his head, and one could almost imagine some level of ecstasy within him at the time. 'Gremory!' he thought. Time and time again, this family shocked him with the things they managed, and Eira's acquisition of a servant so valuable was something he'd yet to see in all his centuries. "Sou ka. Eira Gremory's Queen is one of the strongest we'll find in this bracket, even though this is their first official match. However... I do wonder what sort of exciting thing we'll see here soon," he commented, having already acquired knowledge involving another Queen to be found here.

Speaking of the other Queen, Roxanna's was finally being stirred into action, if only to some minor extent. Her only choice in approach was to send forth her energy. As Izuna floated in place and sighed away his aggression from this small victory, this energy signature struck him and gave him great pause. Suddenly, his eyes widened to the same extent as Szaelneas'. He turned with great haste to see what could be producing such an energy - that which seemed almost hidden within something else - and there he saw the enemy Queen. "That's... not possible..." he said through gritted teeth, both to himself and in response to Eira's query. There was no possible way he was mistaken in what he felt. Even if he thought he could have been wrong, the fact that it was projected so blatantly towards him would have cleared away any doubts. Tense and sweating, Izuna floated slowly toward a center point between the other Queen and his starting location, staring at the former all the while. He'd take this invitation; he automatically understood that he had no other choice. Assuming this other Queen already understood such a thing when issuing her 'challenge', he decided to stop on a mushroom away from other participants of this Rating Game.

Eira experienced in the moment of Szavelneas' thought an intensive shiver up her spine. One which caused her to shake as if she had a chill and look over her shoulder as if someone had spoken to her. Of course this was soon abandoned by her as she looked towards the cause of the energy. "Careful... Izuna. I have no idea what she is but... she's definitely the biggest threat," Eira mentioned. Still that calm look remained on her face even as other things were happening around her. She looked to her left and witnessed something else entirely.

Konpaku Youmu had found one of her targets, a whip-wielding horned hell hound. Youmu bore a calm expression one blade pointed towards this being her eyes focused and seemingly without any knowledge of anything else going on in the area. But she did, she watched as a gentle step backwards was taken by the young woman before her. And Youmu pushed forward even as a lash was attempted by this particular young woman flaming hotter than anything Youmu would have expected. Instead of trying to dodge she stuck her arm out allowing this flaming whip to wrap around it taking an excessive burn and pulling this lass towards her own blade. "Sumimasen, Helga. I have more work to do... Sayonara," she mentioned as her blade gained corporeal form in a second within the chest of this young woman. Helga's eyes widened and she realized she'd lost this. "Iie. Thank you all, for everything," she thanked the other lass as she disappeared as well. Youmu was left looking at her burned arm the soul attached to her body moving itself down as the burn began to glow first blue then green. 'Hm, these flames aren't foxfire nor dragon, but this burn is intense... I am glad she had the morals to resist being part of that girl's games,' Youmu thought to herself. And then Youmu shifted her gaze to look for her next target. "Yare yare, it seems like Roxanna is also down a Knight. The senior members of Eira's Peerage are leaving their marks on the Game Field tonight. And as the collapse forces these groups closer and closer together one has to wonder who is going to benefit more from the smaller spaces..." Marceline mentioned. "And you seem way too excited for your own good, Satan Beelzebub!~" charmed this particular woman as she continued watching the match. Roxanna watched a second of her members fall, and noticed her Peerage size advantage dwindling quickly. Though Starrk and Lilynette were both taking on the ice girl, the loss of two would make the numbers a bit too close for her own liking. They only had one extra person on the field at present and that barely counted. 'Why? I want to win. I need to win. She has to know what will happen if I lose here so why? Why is she even trying? Does she think she can actually win against me?' the heiress Phenex gnashed her teeth together in a grimace as she considered what she thought to be the most ludicrous idea on the planet. An underdog like Eira Gremory topping against her, getting even more attention she didn't deserve, and costing her everything.

Meanwhile the white haired girl looked towards Izuna as he approached and smiled at him widely. "Kitsune-dono, you received my invitation then. I am sure you have questions... I'm Homuragami Shiranui. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, " she said mentioning the family name of an old family of Okami Youkai from the mountains. This girl was exceedingly respectful of this lad for whatever reason and didn't make any move to attack him. She was from a sect worshiped as gods even among the Ainu people, perhaps this lad was just as old as she was and would know what it meant. Perhaps he wasn't and nothing about her would make sense to him. Regardless, it didn't matter much as this was a fight she had to take to some extent.

When they met, Izuna was greeted properly by Roxanna's Queen. Her introduction was one which easily gave away her knowledge of who... or rather, what he was, given how she addressed him. What made things more interesting was the moment she offered her own name. "Homura... gami..." he repeated slowly. That name was absolutely ancient. It was so ancient in fact, that either she had some connection to Izuna's own mother, or some close relative of hers did instead. "Oi, oi, oi... You're a downright relic, ain't ya? Boku wa Kagimi Izuna... Ookami-tono." With his own greeting returned, Izuna crossed his right hand over his chest and offered a slight bow. In doing so, he wore a cheeky grin, though he was quite wary of this woman's very existence. "It must take a lot to be like you and keep the Devil you're bound to from knowing," he said, understanding that Roxanna couldn't have actually known much about her Queen while also desiring him as a servant. He also took no immediate action against his opponent, though he did make an effort to shroud himself in flames to prepare for the battle he felt he had to take.

During this time, Takumi finally made his first move during this Rating Game. However, he did not move to take any opponent. He instead stepped up to Eira's side and looked out unto the battlefield, choosing to converse with the heiress as opposed to jumping into the fight. "If I'm being honest, I don't even know who to fight... or if I even need to fight anyone here. What should I do?"

The greeting Shiranui received was about what she expected given the age of everyone involved. When he mentioned that she was a relic the woman's eyes widened and she waved the lad off, having a chuckle behind one of her hands. "Yare yare, that's a little mean, Kitsune-dono. It's not nice to discuss a lady's age as such. And if you are who I think you are, I am sure you're older than me," she said with a gentle smile appearing from behind that covered hand. Of course, he went on to make an assertion about her keeping her abilities hidden for a while. "You're one to talk, Kagimi Izuna-dono," she bowed back to the lad. "I assume the Devil you are with knows better, but still, you hide just as much as I do, on your own authority..." she mentioned as her body began to glow and a ring of small fire balls was created around her person. "She's under the impression that capturing me in human form locked me into it, Hanyo desu..." she explained of how she managed to hide her real nature from Roxanna. "But I am protected from her..." there was a pause in the words spoken by Shiranui while she tried to speak semi-nicely. "Disposition. I am sure you've realized why..." she said to the man before her with a devious smile on her face. "But today is the day my goddess had me wait for, so I'll show you something she's not seen since she captured me," said Shiranui. And much like Izuna, the young woman's form changed quite a bit. She gained one white fluffy dog wolf tail, along with a full pair of wolf ears atop her head. Two crimson colored marks appeared on her face directly under her eyes and her fingers gained claws and her mouth gained fangs. "Ah... I missed this. Still, I can't show much more than this, but I am sure it will be enough for the two of us to meet properly," she mused, as she lifted two fingers towards Izuna and took a deep breath. Doing so caused those created fire balls to swirl into her own person giving her a fiery aura which she'd use to approach Izuna swiftly aiming a concise palm strike towards the center of his chest with enhanced strength and animalistic aggression. "What the hell?! How long have you been able to take that form again?" asked Roxanna of her Queen which gained her nothing but a snarl from the lass the likes of which she'd received from Izuna in the days prior.

Eira watched the exchange taking place between these people as she was soon approached by Takumi. He took Izuna's place at her side which was likely for the best considering protecting the King in such situations was a proper strategy. Even though she was quite literally drawn by the things taking place before her, Eira couldn't help but smile at the lad's question and his assertion that he didn't know what he should be doing. "Mostly what you do, depends on how the strategy evolves, Takumi. Our initial plan was a run and gun, take as many targets in the first few moments as possible. We've taken down two, and I can count on Youmu to take on another, or at the very least keep him occupied. But with Izuna busy with the..." Eira paused seeing the new form taken on by the Queen of Roxanna's Peerage. Her eyes widened immediately at the sight. 'Kawaiii!~' her mind chanted this but aloud she had something different to say. "Proper Queen of Roxanna's Peerage, I am left without someone at my side and that can't be allowed. So for now... stay with me. And you can take care of whoever approaches," she said, it was a working strategy and one which would let her enjoy the Red Dragon Emperor's company for a few moments at least, and she was almost certain she'd be attacked directly pretty soon. She also realized she hadn't really explained why she assumed something like that would happen so she clarified her thoughts a bit more. "If Roxanna starts to feel threatened, she'll likely send someone here to try me directly, while she thinks my bigger threats are too occupied to try and protect me... not that I need the protection but, it'd be an okay working strategy to try and have me maimed or injured enough that I won't be able to move forward before this part of the stage collapses. Risky though it might be..."

"Hmm? Was it?" asked Izuna as he thought on the potential rudeness of his previous reaction. There seemed to be some amount of civility between this pair of Queens, as their conversation continued with this. "I guess it was. Don't get me wrong though, you're pretty hot regardless. You wouldn't happen to be into older, super-manly guys, would ya?" he went on, content to enjoy a bit of humorous banter with this 'Ookami' he was pitted against. Shiranui touched on her own concealment of abilities while addressing her knowledge of Izuna's. By the time she was done, she even exemplified her true powers to whatever extent she was comfortable with, which alone was nothing to shake a stick at, so to speak. It was impressive even to look at, and Izuna's tail began swaying as if he were some lesser form of canine. "Sugoi! Even back then, I never got to see one of you like this," he said. As Shiranui made her approach, he stared her down with a smile and began moving his lips to mouth his true name in silence. Considering what he was up against, he felt he owed this woman an amount of respect which went far beyond what he could manage as a Devil. Yet still, he could not truly meet her as a Youkai. Her palm thrust met his torso though, crashing into his sternum and causing his body to curl around her arm as the hand pushed against him. Then, suddenly, Izuna flew away from Shiranui with nothing but the remnants of his flames left behind. "Hrgh! Yeah, that's... about what I expected," he commented after catching himself mid-air several meters away. His hand was once again upon his chest, albeit this time because of the impact he'd taken. Something about the way this recent hit felt... was odd. He'd heard many stories about the Ookami, and for Shiranui to say she couldn't show anything more than this while producing such an outcome... didn't match up to his expectations when he thought about it more. "... No..." Whatever he was thinking, he seemed quite surprised. His free hand rose and began drawing runes in the air before him. This resulted in the sudden disappearance of Eira's Queen, followed by the appearance of six illusions of himself around Shiranui while he floated above in hiding. The illusions darted about, each four meters away from Shiranui and tossing very real balls of blue Fox Fire toward her at varying intervals. 'Could she really be...'

Eira apparently thought it was for the best if Takumi remained at her side, considering the likelihood of an assault on her in the near future. Upon hearing this, the Pawn chortled. "You're doing a lot to keep up appearances, aren't you? I can't see anybody on the other team accomplishing anything by attacking you directly, even if it's just to knock you off. That Roxanna... I felt it," he began explaining while looking into his open palm. "When I was going to hit her earlier, I felt like I could take her down somehow. I haven't been wrong about that kind of thing yet. Either way though, I've got no problem staying here while you're around."

"Hai. It was..." mentioned Shiranui without any hesitation. Of course, as their playful banter continued, it seemed that Izuna had compliments to pay in addition to his mention of her age. Another chuckle escaped the white haired lass as she managed to look a tad bit sheepish. "Super-manly? I can't say I know anyone like that..." she mused, having a fairly good time herself. "Oh, you'll make me blush saying things like that. This is just my wolf form. The one I should be in most of the time..." she stated about the form she'd shown him now. Of course, Roxanna watched this conversation take place and wondered what was going on between this set of Queens that someone wasn't already eliminated. "Oi! I said kick his ass, not flirt! What the fuck is this?" Roxanna asked angrily from her perch midfield. 'That seems like something she'd do. I should have been able to have that fox! Why isn't he mine!? I want him!' she thought again and again seeming to get more and more worked up. Shiranui for her part didn't pay any attention to the words coming out of the face of the heiress Phenex she was too busy catching the true name of a certain fox Youkai. She saw the movements of his lips and her eyes widened at the news even as she sent her arm into his person and he managed to shift it quite a bit from the hit to the sternum it had started off as. "Sou ka... The last time I hit someone like that it crushed their chest instantly," she muttered to herself only to see the lad collect himself and disappear after using a set of runes. Six illusory versions of him appeared hurling fox fire balls at the lass without discrimination. Instead of moving herself block them, a large mirror appeared at her back and it looked a bit like a shield. It began to move around towards the fireballs knocking them immediately back towards their casters with impunity. "Yare yare... tricky aren't you?"

Meanwhile Eira was content to watch the ongoing battle and continue her conversation with Takumi. He went on to speak on the idea that she was doing too much to keep up appearances and had some idea that he could at least beat Roxanna. Eira smiled at this notion, such a thought about an enemy was a good one. But also a bit of a rookie interpretation of the differences between them. "Iie, I am not keeping up an appearance. Against the rest of her Peerage, we stand a pretty good chance. Just Izuna and I have taken out more powerful people between us... but Roxanna is problematic," she mentioned casually. She saw no harm in explaining what she knew, half of winning in games of chess such as these was about knowing your enemies strengths and weaknesses and strategizing around them. "Don't take that the wrong way, I have no doubt that you could knock her out. And I enjoy that you trust your instincts on such things..." she said with that devious smirk of her bloodlust leaking into her visage. "The problem is making sure she stays down. Phenex family is aptly named after all... and she has high-regenerative abilities, and in all honesty she is practically immortal. So it is almost impossible to make the Retiring System accept that someone from her family has taken enough damage to be counted out," she stated plainly. Of course, even knowing this wouldn't stop Eira from at least trying her physically but there was much more to the way a game like this needed to be played. "We could take out every other member on the field, but if Roxanna remains with an unbroken will, then we can't win. But... if we break her mind enough that she retires herself... we win." she explained the basics of her plan to the lad with her. "Thus the long game... which is much harder to play on this particular field," she mentioned as the area behind where she was standing disappeared causing her to take a few steps forward to head to the next mushroom.