Clashes of steel on steel rang throughout the air as Kiba crossed blades with one of the enemy [Knights]. The light brunette was similar to him in a sense as she too held a code of honor, though that code meant nothing at this point in time. While the two were both courteous as to not do any underhanded tactics upon the other… there was a small piece of Emilya yelling at the blonde to drop the chivalry and win no matter the cost.
He recalled what the loli had told him on the fourth day of training that he was still trying to digest. 'If you really want to fight with chivalry you best get stronger. Only the strong can fight a chivalrous battle.' The true meaning wasn't lost to Kiba, but he was subtly reminded of that far-off, reminiscent stare she had when she spoke. Almost as if it reminded-
"Getting yourself caught in thought will lead to your defeat!" The [Knight] of Gremory leaped back, and if he were a moment later the sword that just grazed his skin would have cut into his chest deeper. But as his feet touched back down onto the dirt of the sports field a light green aura covered him, the graze on his chest soon disappearing.
A short sigh of relief was all Kiba could manage before bringing the Holy Eraser up in time to block another downwards swing from Karlamine. Right as the two blades met the one held by the Phenex [Knight] caught aflame, shattering the one held by Kiba. He couldn't stop the small shout of surprise as he leaped back once more to avoid any further slashes.
Karlamine would have taken on a look of triumph at the fact she had shattered her opponent's weapon… had there not been two other blades at his hip wrapped in red cloth.
Yet, the small smirk on the blonde's face was beginning to irk her as he held fast onto the hilt of his destroyed sword. He held the hilt in front of him as if he was holding another sword. "Well? What are you waiting for!? Draw one of the blades at your side and fight!"
"Sorry, but I'm not wasting these on you. I've been told explicitly to use these against your master." The charming smile he had wasn't doing anything for the brunette as she merely growled.
He. Was. Mocking. Her.
And it was beginning to really piss her off. She held her flaming sword in a striking position and was about to attack right as Kiba began to talk once more. "But. I'll let you have this one… FREEZE!" And just like that a jagged pillar of ice began to creep upwards from the hilt before shattering to reveal a new blade had taken up the last one's residence.
"Y-you… YOU BASTARD! You have two Sacred Gear!" With no more prolonged thought she rushed the bishounen with reckless abandon. She was expecting to see the sword created from ice shatter just like the last.
Not her sword of flame to freeze solid and shatter when it came into contact with it. Her mind cleared up at that point as she backed off soon after. She swiftly discarded the handle in her hands and went to grab the one for her dagger, drawing it as it unleashed its own blaze weaker than her sword. "Damn you! I'll teach you to mock me with your irrelevant Sacred Gears! The immortal flames of the House of Phenex are in reach for us all to use along with wind and light, so don't you forget that!"
She swiped at the blade in his hands and managed a few quick strikes before eventually shattering it. Karlamine then went for a kick to Kiba's gut, which he surprisingly took advantage of and backed up with the momentum given with it. His smile stayed, much to the [Knight]'s displeasure and growled even further as a new blade took place on the empty hilt. A large opening was evident at the tip of the blade, a small black orb being held in its center.
"Then please, allow me to change that." A loud sucking sound roared from the orb within the blade as the fire from Karlamine's dagger began to be absorbed.
"T-there's no way in hell you have three Sacred Gears! It's practically impossible for that to happen! So how… how did you get so strong?"
"You want to know how we managed to get this far?" Kiba's charming smile turned a little pained as he recalled the sound of the pride of Rias' peerage being broken. "Well, we got our asses handed to us by a pink-haired loli."
Karlamine was beyond confused at what the reasoning of him saying that could have been. Was it some sort of code for something? It was rather infuriating and she wanted to yell some more but was halted by Kiba's words.
"But no, the one who gave me the swords at my side told me to never reveal too much information to the enemy or they'll use it against you. But I will give you these!" He slammed his hand onto soon followed by a swarm of indescribable black blades that jutted from the ground in her direction.
Karlamine couldn't help but to marvel at the sight of the small radial burst of swords that stood where she once was. 'Damnit! Who the hell was the one who helped them get this far! And what does pink-haired loli even supposed to mean!?'
As the two [Knights] continued their battle, one weaponless while the other armed, Issei couldn't help but to admire Kiba and the power he held. "Can't believe someone like him has that kind of power. Any sword my ass" He let out a low grunt at the end as he blocked Siris' blade with the [Boosted Gear]. A low guttural chuckle could be heard reverberating inside his head originating from his Sacred Gear.
[Partner, some would call the ability to double your strength every ten seconds a cheat move. And I can tell you something without fully revealing it; there are abilities out there that far surpass the Sacred Gear that boy possesses.] A certain pinkette came to the Dragon's mind, not that anyone else knew of it. And that was fine, it would just remain his little secret until the Magus came out with it.
"Seriously? What kind of hack power out there is stronger than-"
[PAY ATTENTION, PARTNER!] Ddraig's warning almost came too late but the strike from Siris still inflicted a decent amount of damage upon him as he tumbled upon the ground. As he rolled back onto his shaking feet he suddenly felt the few bruises gained from the unprecedented roll fade away as a light green aura surrounded him.
A triumphant grin grew upon the [Pawn]'s face as a scowl fell upon the [Knight]. 'Alright, Asia-chan! Keep it up!' Even though his wounds were healed it didn't mean anything for his stamina, but Issei was sure he could make it through this fight and reach Raiser.
Though Siris was beginning to get agitated from their wounds getting constantly healed by the hidden [Bishop]. "Mihae! What's taking so long with that [Bishop]! Hurry up and retire her already!"
"It's not as easy as you make it out to be!" One of the two Phenex [Bishops] called back as she brought up a defensive spell that was cracked by a punch from Koneko. "Besides I can't do anything while trying to protect Ravel-sama from this [Rook]!"
"Tch." Siris couldn't believe how easy it was for that [Rook] to take down Ni and Li that it was infuriating. Lord Raiser had predicted that the Gremory peerage wouldn't be strong enough to face them head on. Sure he predicted that some of his own would be taken down but he wasn't counting on only five of his servants remaining. 'If we could just take down that [Bishop] then everything else will-'
"Lord Raiser: one [Queen] has retired." The announcement froze the entire battlefield as a sense of dread washed over the remaining four members of the Phenex peerage.
"Yubelluna… lost?" Was the almost quiet voice of Ravel as she looked absolutely distraught at what was just said. Siris looked back at the single [Pawn] of Gremory to see he too was distracted by the announcement. So she took advantage of it and swung her sword down upon him, wanting to take the Gremory peerage down at any cost. She wasn't expecting for the arm clad in the [Boosted Gear] to move on its own and swat the sword to the side.
Issei's attention was brought back by the sound of steel grating off of his Sacred Gear causing him to jump back. 'Shit that was close! Thanks for the save, Ddraig! But I think I'll need more power if I'm gonna win this battle.'
[I've already given you as much power as you can have access to for this fight. There is nothing I can-]
'I said battle. Not fight.' Issei thought with a surprisingly serious tone. 'If I'm gonna beat that douche weasel Raiser then I'll need a lot more power then what I have right now to do it. And it's not just for me, I'll use it to protect my friends, so if I've reached my limit then I'll just have to exceed it!'
All was silent within the [Boosted Gear] before the loudest laugh that Issei has ever heard occurred. [BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Well said, Partner! And it seems what you've done has revealed a new path to be taken. So I'd hold on to something if I were you… OR RAISE THIS GAUNTLET HIGH AND LET THEM HEAR MY SHOUT!]
The brunette did just that as he raised his left arm up, right as the jewel of the [Boosted Gear] released a surge of emerald power. Which was soon followed by one of the most earth shaking cries anyone has ever heard.
[Dragon Booster Second Liberation!]
And with that mighty cry all of the energy that had gathered into the Sacred Gear was released into a blinding pillar of light. The ground around Issei cracked a little as everyone had to look away as the light was too bright to even glance at. Soon the light died down and it was revealed, to everyone's shock, that the [Boosted Gear] had changed.
It now sported a secondary jewel had formed near the elbow, with gold studs in between the jewels. Two small spikes had appeared by the main jewel while four larger spikes had formed near the secondary one. Issei felt a new power flow through his body from the Sacred Gear, and he had an instinctual feeling that he knew what to do with it.
"Kiba!" The blonde backed off from Karlamine who had proceeded to enter melee combat against him. He could only turn his head for a moment to show the brunette that he was listening and it seemed it was noticed. "I need you to gather as much power as you can into your Sacred Gear and send it towards me!"
"Wha-!? Are you serious!?"
"Just do it!"
Kiba thought about the current action he was about to take and smirked a little. 'Well, you should always take some risks on the battlefield.' The [Knight] raised up his current sword and slammed it into the ground channeling the Sacred Gear's power through the ground and towards Issei. "[Sword Birth]!"
As the energy raced towards the [Pawn] whatever was left of the Phenex servants took to the sky. They had severely underestimated the Gremory peerage, and the choice to take to the sky was the right call because when the power reached Issei a new callout came from the Sacred Gear.
[Transfer!]
And the ground birthed steel, demonic steel from the swords created by Kiba's Sacred Gear. All of them were pointed upwards with very few at an angle at which they would point out to the side. Karlamine kept her eyes on the [Pawn] and [Knight] as the two seemed to be the most troublesome at the moment while keeping her senses open to see if the Priestess of Thunder was near. Siris and Mihae were off to the side protecting Ravel as they should while she took-
A whistle of air passed by her head in a swift motion she wasn't able to catch. The next thing the blonde knew was a small slash mark formed on her cheek that began leaking blood. 'How did-!? What just happened!?' Karlamine looked at the ground below to see what could have possibly cut her.
That was when she spotted Kiba kneeling with one hand on the ground as his head pointed upwards. His charming smile could be seen from all the way up where the Phenex servants were. A thought passed through Ravel's mind as she saw the blood run down Karlamine's cheek, her face began to steadily pale at merely imagining it.
Kiba could only prove her worst fears as the assortment of Demonic swords began to shake. "Burst!" Was the single word he spoke, causing the swords to rocket upwards puncturing Siris, Karlamine and Mihae. A few of them breaking past the two guards and slashing Ravel as well, but leaving her mostly unharmed. That sadly couldn't be said about the other three as they faded away while falling to the ground with a few swords sticking out of them.
"Lord Raiser: two [Knights] and one [Bishop] have retired."
"Alright, that makes Raiser the only one left!" Issei cried out in cheer as he made his way over to Kiba, as did Koneko, with Akeno coming from wherever her fight with Yubelluna had taken her looking incredibly scuffed up. Burn marks littered her body as her clothes, which somehow were swapped out for shrine maiden attire, were greatly burned showing off a lot of skin.
"Ara ara, it looks like I missed all of the excitement here. But it doesn't matter, I made sure to punish that naughty [Queen] for trying to pull something on me." After causing the current three gathered to get a shiver down their spines as Akeno proceeded to take out a small vial from between her cleavage.
Koneko's eyes narrowed, Kiba lost his smile, and Issei was confused with what the vial even contained. Ravel however looked taken aback by the sudden appearance of the vial in Akeno's possession. "You! Where did you get that Phoenix Tear!? There aren't supposed to be any of them in this Rating Game!"
"Oh?" Akeno looked at Ravel with a smile causing her to cease her speech and begin to pale slightly. "You would like to know where I got this from? I actually got it when I retired the Bomb Queen. It fell from her grasp right when she retired from getting thoroughly electrocuted. So why would she have one if they aren't even allowed right now?"
The Phenex Devil wasn't even sure what to say to that. Her brother was told not only by their parents, but also their siblings, Lord and Lady Gremory and even Maou Lucifer. And Grayfia made it explicitly clear that if she caught use of them that she'd call the game and Raiser would be forced to forfeit, resulting in the marriage's annulment. 'So why did Yubelluna have a Phoenix Tear? She would never do something to endanger something that Onii-sama wants… unless...'
Ravel was cut off from the rest of Line of thought as she felt a tingly feeling wash over her body causing her to look up and see Asia healing her. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"
"Eep!" The [Bishop] couldn't help stumbling back at the sudden notice of her actions as she fell onto her butt. "M-most of your wounds hadn't healed yet, so I just thought that… that I'd heal them for you…"
Ravel was completely at a loss for words. After all the mere thought of healing the enemy was… it was… it was just ludicrous! The blonde looked at the Gremory peerage gathered to see if any of the others agreed with her thoughts. What she saw left her aghast. They were just smiling. Smiling! And it was from what the former nun had just said as well
"Why are you all smiling!?" The group's smiles all turned towards the blonde with it switching to a confused look. "I mean, I'm your enemy! You shouldn't have even bothered to heal me for not only that, but it would have been pointless either way since I'm a child of the Phenex family. My body's natural healing would have taken care of it, so why!"
"You… you just seemed out of place." Ravel couldn't help but to tilt her head in confusion at what the ex-nun who healed her had meant.