Kusari
Koneko-chan’s absence took up more space than her body ever had.
That was the first thing I understood after the light swallowed her and the announcement made it real.
Rias Gremory’s [Rook] retires.
The battlefield resumed after the announcement because battlefields always did. Wind still moved. The false night still hung over the school grounds. The [Queen], Yubelluna, still hovered above us with that amused, poisonous smile. Issei-san still stood at my side, breathing hard enough to sound angry even before the rage caught up to him.
But the shape beside me had vanished.
Koneko-chan had been small. Quiet. Easy to miss if one did not know where to look.
The gap she left was neither.
Issei-san moved first.
Of course he did.
He took one step toward the [Queen], gauntlet flaring as if rage alone could bridge the distance between us and what had just been taken. His shoulders had already gone wrong with it—too high, too hard, too eager to turn all of himself into one stupid line of retaliation.
Then Akeno-san’s voice cut across the field from above us.
“Issei-kun. Follow the plan.”
Akeno-san floated in the air. Lightning crackling angrily around her.
Her smile had left her voice.
The sentence landed hard.
Because it was Akeno-san, and because she almost never sounded like that unless things had become too serious for softness.
Issei-san stopped.
Only for a second.
Then Yubelluna laughed softly above us, as if she could taste the shape of our hesitation.
“Run if you like,” she called. “You’ll only die tired.”
I ignored her and caught Issei-san’s sleeve before he could choose badly again.
“Sports court,” I said.
He jerked toward me, anger still raw in his face. “She took Koneko-chan—”
“Yes.” My fingers tightened once. “And if you chase her now, she takes you next.”
That made him pause because it was true and because some part of him knew I would not waste time saying something like that unless the next move mattered more than the last pain.
The [Queen] smiled down at us.
Issei-san’s jaw clenched.
Then he looked at the place where Koneko-chan had vanished and swallowed the rest of his rage into motion.
“Right.”
We ran.
The route from the ruined gym to the sports grounds felt longer than it had in planning. Not because the distance had changed. Because grief and fury made it feel further.
Behind us I could hear lightning and explosions ring out as Akeno-san fought the enemy [Queen]. Issei-san wanted to sprint himself empty and arrive before he was too late to our next fight.
I kept us just short of that threshold, using Misstep only once to keep up with his reckless advance.
The stamina drain hit harder.
I needed to rest or hold off on using it more for the time being.
We crossed the outer lane between the school building and the sports grounds just as Grayfia’s voice cut across the battlefield.
“Two of Riser Phenex-sama’s [Pawns] retire.”
Two.
That told us only one thing with certainty.
Yuuto-san was already in contact.
The sports court rose into view ahead, nets ghostly under the battlefield’s white artificial lights, the open surface too exposed to be anything but hostile ground. We dropped low behind a storage shed, and there she was—
Yuuto-san.
She turned as we reached her, sword already in hand, breathing controlled but not easy. Two places near the far fence still held the fading traces of recent retirements.
“You’re late,” she said.
“You started without us,” Issei-san shot back.
That almost made her smile.
“Also, was it you who defeated the enemy [Pawns]?”
Yuuto-san nods at Issei-san’s question.
“Yeah. The sports court is an important location, so it’s natural that there are lots of enemies. I managed to lure the [Pawns] that were moving through it and took them down. But the person directing them seems calm and hasn’t responded to my provocation.” She let out a small huff irritation. “It seems like she used the [Pawns] to watch my attacks. Apparently Riser Phoenix likes to battle by sacrificing his servants. It’s something only he is able to pull off because of his immortality and the numbers advantage he has.”
I nodded and then asked “Have you determined what other pieces are here?”
“The enemies who are still present are one [Knight], one [Rook], one [Pawn], and one [Bishop]. Four pieces in total.”
Issei-san looked nervous. “That’s a strong defense.”
I hummed before replying. “It’s natural. Rias-buchou removed the gym as a main point of the match, so they would gather at the next main location.”
Yuuto-san nods in agreement. Then looks to Issei-san and gives a small smile.
“Are you nervous?”
He turns slightly red and frowns.
“O-Of course! I lack fighting experience! And now I’m here in an actual battle. I’m a grunt compared to someone like you who has more experience fighting.”
Yuuto-san holds up her hand. It’s trembling slightly.
“Ise-kun, you said I have a lot of battle experience and that’s true. But it’s my first time participating in the Rating Game. Even if this match is a special case, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a serious fight. We got involved in a fight between noble devils, and this is our first game. We can’t show them even a slight opening. This is a match where we have to give all we have as Buchou’s servants. I feel delighted and also scared. I don’t want to forget the feeling of my hands' shaking.I want to feel everything and turn it into my experience. Let’s become stronger together, Ise-kun, Kusari-san.”
They both look to me. Issei-san puts on a brave face.
“I guess we’re all nervous then.”
Koneko-chan disappearing in retirement light flashes in my head.
I shake my head before replying.
“We cannot allow ourselves to be shaken. We must push forward and secure victory for Buchou and anyone who resigns during the match.”
Yuuto-san smiles ruefully.
“That’s a bit harsh, Kusari-san.”
Then a voice calls out.
“I’m the [Knight] of Riser Phoenix-sama, Karlamine! I am bored of trying to see through each other’s strategy! Rias Gremory’s [Knight]! I challenge you to a duel!”
I look to Yuuto-san quickly.
“Kiba-san, don’t.”
She smiles guiltily at me.
“Sorry Kusari-san.”
She moves out into the open while muttering.
“She introduced herself, I can’t hide myself both as a [Knight] and as a swordsman.”
Issei-san watches her go before getting up and following her.
I sigh as I begin to follow and mutter.
“Idiots.”
Carlamine-the armored [Knight] stood nearest the center, sword in hand, posture too clean for anything but a proper duelist’s confidence. Isabella-the half masked [Rook] waited to one side with a heavier stance that made the floor itself seem narrower around her. A single [Pawn], the one dressed as a maid- Burent I believe, lingered nearer the rear line, restless, watching. And the [Bishop] with them—
Ravel Phenex.
This may be problematic..
We stepped out together.
The sports court lights threw everything into hard edges. The open space made every movement feel more intense than it should have. No gym roof. No useful corners once the first clash began.
“I’m the [Knight] of Rias Gremory, Kiba Yuuto.”
“I’m a [Pawn] of Rias Gremory, Hyoudou Issei!”
“I’m a [Pawn], of the Gremory, Kusari.”
As we all name ourselves the [Knight], Carlamaine, smiles widely.
“I’m happy that there are warriors like you in Rias Gremory’s group. Coming out here directly from the front. That’s something people with normal sanity won’t do.”
I gave the other two a side eye.
Issei-san had the wherewithal to look guilty.
Yuuto-san ignored or didn’t notice my glare.
“But I love idiots like you three. Now then, let’s begin.”
Yuuto-san steps forward.
“The match between [Knights]. I have been waiting for this. I would like to fight in an intense clash of blades.”
A fierce smile spreads on her face.
“Well said! Rias Gremory’s [Knight]!”
The two of them squared off.
The [Rook] cracked her knuckles and looked at Issei-san with open disdain. “The dragon brat again.”
“Still breathing,” Issei-san said. “Must be disappointing.”
The [Pawn] shifted first, trying to angle toward Isabella’s flank and build a wider support around Issei-san before the proper duels could settle.
Too slow.
I quickly raised my hand and gave Baleful Bolt no room to become anything but what it needed to be.
The curse gathered at my fingertips as a narrow violet-black streak and left in one answer.
I pushed my demonic energy into the spell. As much as I could manage.
No setup.
No hesitation.
No room to react.
The bolt hit Burent dead center before she had fully committed to motion.
One shot.
The force punched straight through her and threw her backward hard enough that Isabella’s posture broke for a fraction. The girl dissolved into light before she landed.
Grayfia’s voice answered it almost at once.
[Riser Phenex-sama’s [Pawn] retires.]
One retirement.
Sharp pain flared from wrist to elbow in a clean, familiar line.
Not the old immediate lockup.
Only the spell reminding me that even improved answers still had costs.
Ravel’s eyes narrowed first.
Then Carlamine moved.
She came at Yuuto-san in one silver-fast line that turned the whole center of the sports court into a swordsman’s problem.
Yuuto-san met her with no wasted motion at all, and the first clash rang hard enough that Issei-san and Isabella both lost the chance to hesitate..
I slipped left.
Issei-san went right.
[Boost!]
Isabella chose him exactly as expected.
The [Rook] came forward like the idea of a wall deciding it could also hit back. Heavy, direct, contemptuous.
Issei-san met her with more confidence than he would have had a week ago and less sense than he should have had now, which probably meant the mountain had improved him without fixing him.
She struck.
He blocked.
The impact drove him back two full steps.
Between blows Issei-san questioned the [Rook]
“Is the [Bishop] not going to fight?”
Isabella backed off for a moment while answering.
“That person is Ravel Phoenix. Riser-sama’s little sister. She became Riser-sama’s servant by using a special method.”
Ravel waves her hand with a smile at Issei-san as if she realised that he’s shocked to hear this.
“According to Riser-sama, “Having your sister in your harem has a significant meaning. You know the significant view of having your close relatives? You know how there are people who look up to and also get jealous about it? Well, I’m not into little sisters, so I have her in my group as fashion.”.”
Issei-san, sadly, looked both jealous and impressed.
Isabella crashed her fists together.
“Now, here I come! Rias Gremory’s [Pawns]!”
I set Stillmark into the floor between her next commitment line and his blind side.
The sigil flattened against the court.
Cold spread beneath my sternum in a slower, thinner ring than before.
“Left,” I said.
Issei-san heard me.
He pivoted a heartbeat before Isabella’s weight crossed the mark. Her timing dragged just enough. Her follow-up shoulder line dipped. After dodging her first strike, Issei-san’s gauntlet drove into her side with enough force to actually move her.
He grinned.
“Nice!”
[Boost!]
Across the court, steel rang.
Yuuto-san and Carlamine had already gone fully into the duel—no wasted speech, no room for anything but edge, footwork, angle, correction.
Carlamine was fast enough to be irritating and proud enough to make it elegant.
Yuuto-san met her exactly where she wanted to be met and kept the fight there, forcing every exchange into a test of whose blade stayed cleaner under pressure.
That was Yuuto-san’s fight.
This one was ours.
Isabella recovered fast and came harder.
Of course she did.
She was no [Pawn] to be erased in one hit.
Her style was simple in the way of heavy Devils who trusted durability and force enough to make subtlety somebody else’s burden.
Whenever she would move towards me, Issei-san would capitalize on her lack of attention.
That made her perfect for Issei-san, if he could survive her long enough to matter.
Ravel called out to Isabella. “Take out the fox girl, she hasn’t used that spell again so she most likely can’t use it again so soon.”
I glanced at her briefly before focusing on Isabella again. She wasn’t right, but the damage I had already inflicted on myself was not minor.
I used Fox-Glamour next.
Only enough to soften the certainty of my exact position and make the line between my body and the court’s white boundary lie slightly to the eye.
Isabella glanced toward me once, judged the space wrong, and in that half-second of adjustment my position to give Isse-san an opening.
I planted another mark where he would engage her next.
The cold from my Stillmarks was spreading further.
Still slower than before.
But beginning to build up.
Ravel watched all of it.
That was what I disliked most.
She remained at the rear edge of the court, not attacking, not idle either. Her attention moved from Yuuto-san’s duel to Isabella’s approach to me and back again with the alert, exact focus of someone measuring a board rather than a fight.
Isabella shifted to cut me out of the field entirely.
That gave Issei-san the opening.
He came in with Boosted Gear flaring and struck high instead of low. When she corrected her guard up toward him, she crossed the mark and her balance betrayed her just enough for his fist to slam above her guard and force her off-center again.
[Boost!]
Issei-san’s power continued to climb.
Across the court, I caught a flash of Yuuto-san’s blade and Carlamine’s answering steel, then lost it behind Isabella’s bulk as she came for me again.
Wrong choice.
I used Misstep.
One ordinary step and the world rejected its own distance for me.
The shift drained at my stamina. I came out of it inside Isabella’s blind side and launched a bolt at her.
She managed to block it against the outside of her forearm.
She stumbled from the attack and from seeing me move with Misstep.
When the ability is witnessed the observer is disorientated by the impossibility of the movement.
She swore and turned on me.
Issei-san laughed.
“Yeah, that’s right! Two on one sucks, doesn’t it?”
Idiot.
Isabella smiled clearly enjoying the fight
“I was taking you lightly. To tell you the truth, I thought I was going to take you out quickly and then worry about the spell caster. Looks like Rias Gremory has been training you well. Especially your stamina. In a serious battle, the most important thing is the stamina. Just dodging attacks requires quite an amount of effort. So being able to do it till now means that you have been training your body a lot. The fox girl is no slouch either.”
Isabella moved forward towards Issei again, deciding that chasing me was a waste energy.
He surged in with the new confidence Rias’s unseal had given him, and for one half-second I could see the route if we kept this shape.
Carlamine locked with Yuuto-san.
Isabella pressured between Issei-san’s force and my timing distortions.
Ravel watching but not yet committing.
The field did not stay that simple for long.
Issei
Kusari-san was terrifying.
That was the first clean thought I had after she deleted the [Pawn] in one shot like the girl had never even been meant to be in the game.
No, not nothing.
I saw her arm twitch harshly after. Saw the sharp pain in the line of her body.
Still though.
One shot.
And then she was beside me with the quiet curse support that turned Isabella from a giant pain in the ass into something I could actually work around.
I’d never fought with her this directly before.
Not really.
Not like this.
Koneko-chan had been all force and pressure and brutal certainty.
Yuuto-san was precision, technique, and speed.
Kusari-san was all wrongness, timing, ugly little openings that caused the opponent to trip over themself exactly when I needed it.
Really useful.
Isabella came at me again and I drove my forearms up to catch the blow. The impact still hurt like hell, but with the unseal and the last week’s training, hurting wasn’t the same thing as losing ground anymore.
Kusari-san’s voice cut across the court.
“Right.”
I moved right.
A second later Isabella’s shoulder line twisted and sent a devastating blow through empty space where I would’ve been. I retaliated and hit her hard enough to make her teeth click together audibly.
That felt great.
Somewhere behind and left, Yuuto-san’s sword rang against Carlamine’s again.
I risked one look and saw enough to know two things:
One, Yuuto-san looked incredible.
Two, if I got distracted watching, Isabella would cave my face in.
So I went back to getting beaten less than before.
That counted as progress.
Ravel was still there too, watching from the rear of their line like some smug little princess who thought the battlefield was a board game her brother had lent her.
I didn’t like her already.
Kusari-san slipped through another impossible-looking step and Isabella’s next strike against her missed by inches.
I was starting to feel sick from watching her move like that.
The enemy [Rook] snarled and turned toward her.
“Hey!” I shouted. “Eyes here!”
Boosted Gear flared.
[Boost!]
I hit Isabella again before she could reset and, for one awesome second, I understood exactly what Buchou must have seen in me from the start:
Potential.
Dangerous.
Messy.
Loud as hell.
Kusari-san didn’t answer that thought.
Still, the next mark hit the court just in front of Isabella’s heel exactly where I needed it.
I took the opening.
And the one after.
For now, that was enough.