The name [Knight Commander Igris the Bloodred] glows menacingly overhead.
Ryusei stiffens immediately. She's fought monsters. Killed bosses. Survived dungeons. But Igris's very presence sends a primal warning through her body:
You are not ready.
Still, she draws a breath and prepares her weapon.
Igris doesn't speak. He merely raises his sword-then vanishes.
BOOM!
He's suddenly in front of her, blade cleaving through the air. Ryusei barely dodges, the shockwave of the strike crumbling a stone pillar behind her. Another swing sends debris flying, and she throws herself in front of Charcadet, shielding him.
"He's-he's on a whole other level!"
Her dagger clangs uselessly off Igris's armor. No damage. Not a scratch.
She grits her teeth and puts it back into her inventory.
"I'll just throw hands then."
That's when Igris does something unexpected. Slowly, wordlessly, he lowers his blade... and drops it.
"...What?" Ryusei blinks.
He reached behind his waist and threw away his two short swords.
The commander straightens, raising his fists.
A fair fight.
Ryusei hesitates, then nods and turns. "Charcadet. Go wait near the hallway."
Charcadet protests with a worried squeal, but obeys, flames low.
The moment he's out of reach-
CRACK!
Igris is on her.
He grabs her by the waist and slams her into the stone floor with a sonic boom. Her new armor creaks and absorbs the brunt of the impact. She barely rolls away from the next flurry-a brutal barrage of fists, like cannonballs crashing against her guard.
Pain shoots through her body.
"I won't win like this..."
With effort, she activates two skills:
[Quick Silver]
[Satan's Gravity]
Her body feels light as air. She shoots forward with enhanced speed, weaving through punches, aiming for Igris's flank.
"KOKUSEN!!"
BOOM!
She drives a glowing heel into Igris's neck. He stumbles back, the first clear hit landed.
[Black Flash]
But it isn't enough.
With a silent rage, Igris's eyes glow crimson. He surges forward again, fists flying faster than before. Ryusei can't keep up.
WHAM. CRACK. BAM.
Each hit lands. Her armor dents. Her ribs scream. And finally, he hurls her into the air, and her body smashes down into the wall behind the throne.
She falls... limp... into the empty throne itself.
Breathing ragged, her vision spins.
Igris begins walking toward her.
Each step echoes with death.
Her hands twitch.
"Move... get up...!"
But her body won't respond.
The Knight Commander raises a gauntleted fist.
{Meanwhile, in the Underworld}
The Rating Game between the House of Gremory and the House of Phenex is reaching a dire climax.
Inside Rias's base, tension crackles through the air.
"Queen- Akeno Himejima: Eliminated!"
Shock silences the remaining members of Rias's peerage. Akeno, her Queen, her strongest beside her-gone.
Yuuto's frantic voice cuts in right after-then nothing. His signal disappears in an instant.
"Y-Yuuto?!" Issei calls out. No response.
"Knight - Yuuto Kiba: Eliminated"
The devastating news hits hard. Akeno taken out, Yuuto overwhelmed by Yubelluna's devastating explosive magic. What should've been a carefully planned counterattack turns into collapse. Panic and pressure swell like a tidal wave.
In the silence, Ravel Phenex speaks softly into the comms from her side of the battlefield.
"...You should retreat, Issei Hyoudou. You're pushing your body too far."
But Issei clenches his fists. His Boosted Gear pulses violently on his arm. Red light bursts through the seams of his gauntlet, and his heartbeat pounds in his ears like war drums. He can feel every inch of his body screaming for rest-but he ignores it.
"I'm not backing down... Not when everyone else gave it their all. I'll be the one to save Rias!"
With no further hesitation, Issei dashes towards Rias and Asia's location.
"Promoted to Queen!"
A surge of power floods through him, momentarily stabilizing the ravaged state of his body. He barrels through, forcing his way to the rooftop where Rias and Asia are desperately holding off the undefeated Riser Phenex himself.
"Rias! Asia!" Issei yells, appearing beside them just in time.
Both girls turn toward him, surprised-but relief quickly sours to fear. Riser's blazing wings stretch wide behind him, and his smile is smug, confident, cruel.
"Oh? The little Pawn made it this far?" he taunts, stepping forward.
Issei's breath is ragged. His limbs tremble. The Boosted Gear continues to power up, placing enormous stress on his body.
"DRAGON... SHOT!" he roars, pushing his body beyond the limit.
The crimson blast races toward Riser-but the noble devil prince swipes it aside with one flaming wing, grinning mockingly.
"Too slow."
In the blink of an eye, Riser is in front of Issei-and slams a knee into his gut. The impact sends him flying across the rooftop. Blood sprays from his mouth. He crashes into the stone wall with a bone-shattering thud.
"ISSEI!!" Rias and Asia scream in unison.
Riser doesn't stop.
He's on him again, raining down blows-fists, wings, flame. Each hit pushes Issei closer to unconsciousness, to death.
"You're not even worth the trouble," Riser growls, lifting Issei by the neck.
Asia moves to heal him-Rias tries to interfere-but Riser swats them both back with a wave of infernal heat.
"This is what happens when you try to defy your destiny, Rias."
Riser Phenex stands over Issei's crumpled body, breathing heavily from the brief exertion. The rooftop battlefield is silent, save for the crackling of residual flames. Asia is on her knees, desperately trying to crawl to Issei's side, sobbing through clenched teeth.
Rias watches, frozen, her crimson hair whipping in the heated wind. Her fists tremble at her sides, her teeth grit so tightly it hurts. Every instinct in her body screams to fight-to protect her friends, her peerage.
But she knows it's over.
'Was all that training for nothing? Would things be different...if Ryusei were hear? If I had started training way before all this even happened?'
Issei, her most reckless but most loyal Pawn, lies unconscious and broken at her feet. Akeno is gone. Yuuto is gone. Koneko is gone. Her team is in tatters. And now, Riser looms just a few steps away from finishing it-for real.
"This is the end, Rias," Riser says coldly, brushing soot off his shoulder. "Be grateful. I could've reduced him to ash."
Rias says nothing for a long time. Her eyes don't leave Issei.
Finally, with a shaky breath, she closes her eyes... and lifts a hand.
"...I forfeit."
The words fall from her lips like heavy stones dropped into a silent lake.
A chime echoes across the battlefield.
The announcer's voice booms overhead:
"Rating Game match concluded! The winner: Riser Phenex of the House of Phenex!"
A flash of light marks the end of the battle as the Rating Game field begins to fade. The world of the Underworld fades to white.
Riser steps back, a victorious smirk on his face.
Rias drops to her knees beside Issei, gently lifting his battered head onto her lap, brushing hair away from his bruised face.
"You idiot..." she whispers, a tear sliding down her cheek.
"You really were ready to die for me... weren't you?"
She wraps her arms around him and holds him close as Asia finally reaches them, her healing magic glowing softly between her palms.
"Thank you, Issei..." Rias whispers. "You and the others gave it your all. It's my turn now... to protect you."
And as the light of the battlefield fades completely, all that remains is the sound of a girl's quiet sobbing, a boy's labored breathing.
{Back in the Dungeon}
Ryusei slumps over the arm of the empty throne, her breathing shallow, armor cracked, blood seeping from her mouth. Her vision blurs as the crimson figure before her refuses to fall.
Knight Commander Igris the Bloodred steps forward, retrieving his massive blade with an eerie, magnetic pull. With one last wordless motion, he raises it high over his head for the final blow.
But-
CLANG.
The sword halts, caught mid-air.
Ryusei, gritting her teeth, holds the edge of the blade with her bare, bleeding hand.
"I'm not done yet..."
Her left hand flicks up-Kasaka's Venom Fang appears with a pulse of cursed energy. Ryusei drives it into Igris's eye, her scream echoing through the throne room.
Igris reels, staggering back as black fluid drips from beneath his helmet. Ryusei doesn't stop. With a surge of energy, she re-summons the dagger, spinning it around and jamming it into Igris's throat with all the force her body has left.
A heartbeat passes.
Two.
Then-
CRACK.
The red-plated knight falls to one knee, then collapses entirely, his sword clanging beside him.
"Did I win...?"
———————————————————
[Knight Commander Igris the Bloodred Defeated!]
[Level Up! Level 42!]
Rewards Acquired: S-Rank Bloodred Helm, Rune Stone: Skill - Ruler's Hand, Teleportation Stone
———————————————————
Ryusei collapses to her knees, coughing. She wipes the blood from her mouth and stares at her reflection in the gleaming red helmet now resting beside Igris's crumpled form.
"That... was not supposed to work..."
Charcadet chirps, hopping over with concern. Ryusei chuckles weakly. "We should be able to go home now..."
She opens her system screen, her hand shaking as she checks the Quest Objective.
A new message flashes:
———————————————————
[Next Phase Unlocked: Survival Gauntlet - Endless Shadows.]
[Endure and earn Advancement Points. Retreat is no longer possible.
Good luck!]
———————————————————
Her stomach drops. She turns as the massive throne room begins to tremble. From behind the shattered doors, a legion of knights begins to pour in the room.
"You've got to be kidding me..."
She reaches for the Teleportation Stone, her only way out.
A black-bladed arrow knocks the stone from her hand. It skids across the floor, sparking, and vanishes into a widening crevice.
The enemy surrounds them-twenty, then forty, then more. A dozen eyes gleam through narrow visors.
Ryusei pulls Charcadet behind her.
Her wounds are deep. Her stamina low. Her health bar dangerously red.
Still, her grip on her dagger tightens. She growls through clenched teeth.
"Ah shit."
Charcadet steps forward beside her, letting out a defiant cry as flames begin to swirl around him-Fire Spin activating on its own.
"Rika come!"