Gremory Territory

[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?"