Lucifer's Castle.
I was sitting at a small table on a single chair in the middle of a vast wasteland surrounded by mountains and forests, a cup of fragrant and hot coffee smoking in my hand. Apart from me, there was nothing here that indicated any sign of civilization and life. No birdsong, murmuring water, or insect sounds. Just me and the wasteland.
I didn't feel like waiting for the end of the lottery, so I asked Greyfia to tentatively move me to the Ranking Game field. Here I could hide from the excessive attention of the demons, at least visually for myself, and wait for my opponent in peace. I don't know who it would be, but the most plausible option would be Sairaorg. After all, he is the strongest of the younger generation.
After a while, I felt bursts of mana in the distance, and... there were far fewer than there should be. And considering who they belonged to...
And Sirzechs doesn't mess around, huh?
- "The unofficial Ranking Game is about to begin, and I, Greifia Lucifuge, Queen of Sirzechs Lucifer, will take the place of its referee. There is no time limit, the game will end as soon as Lord Archaman gives the sign. According to the outcome of the draw, his opponent is Sairaorg Bael, who..."
Then she suddenly fell silent, and there was silence on the air. After a moment of silence, Greyfia returned, but there was a slight concern and incomprehension in her voice.
- "There had been a technical glitch. Instead of Sairaorg Bael and his entourage, all the heirs present at the reception have entered the field. They are Sairaorg Bael himself, Rias Gremori, Sona Sitri, Riser Fenex, Zephyrdor Glasea-Labolas, Diadora Astaroth, and Seekvaira Agares. The game will be postponed pending clarification."
Oh? So, this is his plan? I see.
- "No need," I said loud enough for my voice to be heard all over the field, "If the heirs are okay with it, we can continue."
- "Are you sure?" Greyfia asked diplomatically, "Then what about the reward?"
- "It will depend on their efforts, as agreed with Sirzechs. There is no change in that."
- "In that case, we continue. Lord Archaman's opponents will be the aforementioned heirs I mentioned above." Greyfia stated humbly and paused, "The game begins."
-0-
For fifteen minutes nothing happened. Absolute silence hung around me, like the calm before the storm. I was still sitting in the same chair, at the same table, with the same mug of coffee. Yet...
In an instant, three magic circles lit up in three different directions, from which golden flames, a stream of water, and a black and scarlet spear of Destruction burst out, and then rushed towards me. The three attacks of destructive power formed a perfect triangle, and when they reached the enclosed field that had been erected in an instant, there was a deafening explosion, raising a huge cloud of dust and steam.
My view was blocked, but I could feel two other auras rapidly closing the distance, and another hovering directly above me about ten meters above the ground. A fraction of a second, and two holes formed in the veil, revealing Sairaorg and Zephyrdor, with their fists extended in my direction.
To block them, I created two magical circles in front of them, or rather, I tried to create them, as the small area that included only my body was covered by a pale orange barrier. Inside it, the creation of magic circles slowed down so much that even the naked eye could see the impossibility of blocking an attack with them.
With a snap of my fingers, the barrier shattered and crumbled into a cloud of shards, and another circle lit up beneath me. And when the blows almost reached my face, golden chains erupted from it, picking up the two heirs and throwing them away. Sairaorg landed on his feet before he had even traveled ten meters, and Zephyrdor crashed into the ground, leaving a small crater.
I swung my hand, dispelling the remnants of the veil, and straightened up as the table, chair, and cup vanished into thin air. Then my gaze drifted to the front, where a group of heirs were gathered, slightly disgruntled but still enthusiastic about kicking my ass.
- "Not bad," I began, clapping my hands together and nodding at them, "In fifteen minutes you've managed to come up with a passable strategy, even despite your relationships. You can stop holding back, though. Throw everything you've got at me, don't be shy."
The last words were addressed to everyone, but especially to Riser and Sairaorg, who definitely understood it. The heirs looked into each other's eyes, and then, with a short nod, began the actual battle.
Riser immediately rose into the sky, releasing his six fiery wings, surprising everyone else. A sea of golden flames formed around him, which he threw at me, sweeping away everything in his path. A direct strong attack to prevent me from counterattacking.
Sairaorg, seeing this, laughed and, clenching his fist, struck the ground beneath him. The force he gathered in his hand crushed the ground and made everything within a kilometer radius shake and collapse. He was trying to knock the ground out from under my feet to make me move.
They weren't the only ones. Sona created a massive water serpent a hundred meters long and sent it in an arc to cut off my escape routes. Dozens of black and scarlet spears formed above Rias's head, apparently copying Gae Bolg, which constantly changed their trajectory so I couldn't know where they were aiming.
Seekvaira and Zephyrdor's attacks were an order of magnitude weaker, but they clearly didn't want to fall behind the others. The former put her hands on the ground, causing two magical circles to light up. One, the larger one, hit the heirs and sped up their attacks, while the other, which I fell into, created the sensation of slow motion. Zephador put his hand to his chest, where a palm-sized magic circle of pale red appeared, after which his body was covered with some glow of the same color, and he rushed to attack right behind Riser's wave of flames.
The funny thing was that Diadora wasn't doing anything at all, just smiling. But his smile was somehow tense, and it wouldn't be wrong to say that he was afraid of something.
Applying Strengthening to my body, I jumped up while my gaze quickly analyzed Seekvaira's barrier, allowing me to change its properties. Now the smaller one was speeding up and the larger one was slowing down. My hand extended towards the sky, where a giant magic circle lit up, covering the entire area of the Ranking Game field, where the gazes of the heirs swept over.
Their attacks changed direction, and Sairaorg and Zephyrdor, who were covered in Seekvaira's accelerating barriers, jumped up behind me. The wave of fire began to stretch, taking the shape of a giant phoenix, and the water serpent gained wings, resembling an actual Leviathan.
In addition to the large circle, hundreds more small ones formed around me, from which golden chains burst out, targeting the rearguard consisting of Sona, Rias, Riser, and Seekvaira.
- "Rias!" Sona shouted, to which her body was covered in a black and scarlet aura.
Her spears rushed out of the sky and began chipping away chain after chain as the power of Destruction began to gather around Rias. One third continued to create spears, while the remaining two thirds formed a shield similar to Rho Aias, behind which the entire rearguard immediately shifted. The chains crashed into the shield and naturally drilled through its covering, but I noticed how slowly they were being destroyed by Bael's hereditary power. When two layers were broken through, Sona, Riser, and Seekvaira put their hands on Rias's back, transferring their power to her, but reducing the power of the attacks.
- "Balance Breaker! King Regulus' royal hide!" Sairaorg shouted and became covered in golden armor as he saw the reduced power of his allies' attacks. Zephyrdor, on the other hand, put all his strength into his released wings and put his hand on Sairaorg, covering him with the same aura that covered himself. As it turned out, the function of this aura was entertaining, as my chains simply passed through the two heirs flying swiftly towards me.
When the Sairaorg who surged forward got close enough, I erected ten protective magic circles in front of him in order to have time to finish what I had planned. However, this protagonist of Chinese novels punctured him one by one as if he were a knife and they were butter. They simply could not withstand his strength, to which I raised an eyebrow impressively. After all, the last person who was capable of doing that was a spirit. And the attacks of Sona, Riser, Rias, and Seekvaira surrounded me on all sides, as if some beast trying to swallow the sky whole.
However, the time had come, they lacked speed. My magic circle covering the entire area shone with a bright golden light and illuminated the entire area, leaving not a single dark spot. A moment later, a massive blade of pure light emerged from it and pointed at the heirs, shaking menacingly like a hungry wolf on a leash, eager to catch up with its prey.
And when the distance between me and Sairaorg was no more than thirty meters, the blade burst out with the speed of light and went straight at the heir of Bael, whose smile grew even wider and a joyous laugh came from his mouth. He stopped and stood, bringing his fist behind his side, and then, as it glowed and filled with all the power he had, he made a single strike.
Fist and blade collided, forming a blinding explosion that filled his ears and made him cover his eyes. The ball of force and light created from the collision cleared the artificial sky of clouds and destroyed the ground. The light of the sun disappeared under its onslaught, and the sound of the explosion overpowered everything else.
It was only by the edge of my vision that I saw something truly amazing. An attack that might well have killed some gods had stopped. For a tiny, insignificant, barely noticeable microsecond, but it stopped when it met Sairaorg's fist.
As the light faded, leaving the once entire field of the Ranking Game in mud and dust, I, still hanging in the sky, saw Sairaorg kneeling alone while the rest of the heirs feel powerless, covered in wounds, abrasions, and earth.
His armor crumbled like shards of broken glass, his clothes turned to rags, and his entire body bled. But his face expressed nothing but joy and satisfaction. He was smiling radiantly, showing a mouthful of blood, and his gaze was directed straight up to the sky, as if to declare that he had done it. As if he had achieved his goal and nothing could stop him.
And I give him credit for that. He really did something that only Sirzechs or Serafall could do. And a few seconds later, he passed out, still not changing his posture, just closing his eyes. Impressive... Very impressive...
- "The Heirs can no longer continue the battle," Greyfia's voice said in a reverent and excited tone, "Victory goes to Lord Archaman. The duration of the game is eighteen minutes and four seconds."
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