As the days passed, it was soon the weekend before school was supposed to open.
It was an important day for some of the people living in the house while it was an extremely important day for some others. That was especially the case for Sona and Tsubaki, who had their rating game against Seekvaira Agares today. Sona was so serious about the day that she didn't even sleep with Abaddon, choosing to spend the night with Tsubaki and her Peerage to get ready for the battle.
"Greetings, everyone~" A cutesy voice came through to the viewers who were spectating the match between the Sitri and Agares family heirs. "My name is Seerafall Leviathan and I will be commentating on this match for you all today. On one side we have the Heiress of the Archduke clan of Agares, Miss Seekvaira Agares standing alongside her esteemed Peerage." She looked into the camera and blew an emphatic kiss at all of the viewers that was filled with sparkles.
Abaddon was currently in his home theatre, sitting on the recliner with Kuroka using his lap as her pillow as Rias and her peerage all sat on the back row to see the broadcast of the rating game, except for Koneko. She was feeling needy and was sitting at Abaddon's side, occasionally glaring at Kuroka. As for Aika and Xenovia, those two were busy with their daily devil contract work. Abaddon had told them to get some extra work done so that they would qualify for the upcoming status promotion examination.
The camera moved to show Seekvaira with a serious expression on her face, "I hope to give my best for the fight." She said.
"Next up, we have~" The camera shifted to Serafall once again. "The one and only heiress of the Sitri clan and the cutest sister that a Maou could ever hope for~ Sona Sitri! Isn't she just the cutest?" Serafall continued praising her even after the camera shifted to Sona, making it difficult for the participant in question to keep a straight face.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in this rating game," Sona said humbly with a hint of challenge in her tone.
"Now then!" Serafall took the limelight again. "The rating game will follow the normal rules. Whichever team loses their king first will lose the game. As for the environment of the Game Field …" Serafall pointed in the sky as the camera shifted to an empty white arena that extended as far as the eye could see. "A fan-favorite location for the games — The Ruins of War~" Following Serafall's words, the entire arena started transforming into a barren wasteland that was covered with Obsidian and other volcanic rocks. There was a river of lava flowing through the middle as multiple small eruptions took place throughout the map
"The participants will now be teleported to their respective bases in the arena."
Serafall's commentary continued as the game commenced and the teams all quickly took action. Both Seekvaira and Sona were more inclined to tactical methodology, which showed from their assignments. They both promptly adapted to the battlefield and modified their strategies accordingly."
Abaddon's attention quickly lowered to a minimum despite having a vested interest in the fight considering both Sona and Seekvaira were important to him. He just wasn't that interested in their deep strategies and he was more interested in the eventual battle between Seekvaira and Sona. His main interest was the fight between Seekvaira and Sona since neither of the two's peerages had any real connection with him. The only high-class devil whose peerage had a deep connection with him was Rias.
'I guess I could also focus a little on Tsubaki's fight …' He did appreciate Sona's queen since he had spent a few sessions training her as well.
Abaddon instead brought his eyes down to Kuroka, the cat was just as bored at the strategizing as he was, lazily looking at the display with a blank expression. Abaddon, on the other hand, focused on caressing Kuroka's fur.
"Hey, bring your ears out," Abaddon whispered to Koneko. "I want to rub your soft fur …" Koneko blushed, but obediently released both her tail and ears. She also wanted to be caressed by Abaddon like Kuroka.
…
"And that marks the end of the Agares team's Queen!" Serafall commentated as Seekvaira lost her queen to Tsubaki's suicidal gamble with Saji's support.
'I'm impressed, Sona … You outwitted Vaira,' Abaddon thought inwardly, finally bringing his focus to the fight. While Seekvaira was the only one left on her side, Sona's team still had Tsubaki, Saji, and Sona herself. And while Tsubaki was weakened by a large margin, her Sacred Gear was still functional, giving Sona a tactical advantage when it came to defense. With Saji, Sona had the benefit of a suppression ability. He had multiple Viritra-type Sacred Gears, allowing him to use the curse of Viritra in a very effective manner.
"I suggest that you surrender, Seekvaira," Sona said respectfully, a hidden hint of pride in her eyes. "The pieces are stacked against you. Not only is my Queen still in the game, but my pawn can yet promote himself to Queen status."
"I appreciate the suggestion," The blonde Agares family heir smiled. "But I'm going to have to decline." Seekvaira cast a torrent of fire in Tsubaki's direction, wanting to get rid of the weak link first.
"Support her, Saji," Sona ordered, creating a huge snake of water as Tsubaki summoned her Sacred Gear, Mirror Alice to block and if the mirror broke, reflect the attack at Seekvaira. At the same time, Saji used his Absorption Line to suppress Seekvaira's demonic energy.
In the next instant, Tsubaki was eliminated as the flame that Seekvaira summoned reached her before any of the trio's actions were taken. Saji's Absorbtion Line missed Seekvaira and Sona's water dragon intercepted a remnant tongue of flame while Tsubaki's Mirror Alice never even touched.
"Tsubaki!" Sona shouted before frowning at Seekvaira. "You held back on using your time powers during the fight. You must have a big limit to it."
"I was waiting for the correct moment," Seekvaira answered as she cast a large magic circle under herself. Moments later, a large rock formation arose from the ground. Seekvaira stood on a flat platform as the rock formation got bigger and bigger, to the point of dwarfing Sona and Saji completely. The rocks took on the appearance of their surroundings as lava ran through the large structure.
Seekvaira merely stood with her hands held behind her back as the giant rock golem formed, making Sona's eye twitch at the extravagant use of demonic energy. 'She's been influenced by him to such an extent…' At this moment, Sona's expression was captured by the camera, telling Abaddon what she was thinking. He narrowed his eyes, deciding to clear her thoughts of blaming him with a heavy dose of punishment.
"You're too big, and that makes you an easy target," Saji spoke as his absorption line wrapped around the food of the huge giant, about to start absorbing Seekvaira's infused demonic energy. His line merely passed through the structure as Seekvaira manipulated the rocks to momentarily split just enough that Saji's line would pass right through without touching anything.
'This terrain is unfavorable for my large-scale water-based attacks …' Sona thought to herself, "Saji! Promote and use Blaze Black Flare. I'll support you." The Pawn instantly promoted himself to Queen, enhancing all of his aspects before summoning the power of one of his new sacred gears. He extended his hands in the direction of Seekvaira's golem and a thick torrent of black flames was released from his palms, tight at the golem.
Seekvaira couldn't control the golem to move away in time as Sona flew up to her and attacked her with a water jet comprised of boiling water. As the cursed flames of Viritra entrenched Seekvaira's golem, she pushed Sona back with multiple bolts of lightning that flew at the heiress, driving her back. Sona's purpose of destroying the golem was fulfilled.
"You should abandon that golem before you get consumed by Viritra's cursed flames. They are inextinguishable."
"What if they were never used in the first place?" Seekvaira smirked as green energy escaped her body, wrapping around the golem. The flames that Saji had released at the golem were all completely extinguished as Seekvaira turned back the time of the golem. Just as the golem was reborn anew, it stomped its foot, destroying the surrounding terrain and forcing Saji to take flight hastily. He wasn't able to maintain his balance completely and ended up hit by a stray rock. Seekvaira didn't lose the opportunity to attack and Saji found himself enveloped by a bolt of lightning before he was eliminated as well.
"W-what just happened?" Sona said, surprised. One moment, she was looking at Seekvaira's regenerated golem, and the next, Saji had been eliminated. Her gaze honed in on Seekvaira. There was sweat on the devil's brow as she panted. "You can pause me in time as well?" Sona asked in disbelief.
"Your loss," Seekvaira smirked, "You've lost your tactical advantage, and this environment is horrible for your strongest element. I'll throw your words back at you, Heir Sitri. Surrender."
"Never!" Sona released a torrent of water at Seekvaira, only to see a flaming tornado surrounding her. "Damnit …" She realized that Seekvaira was too strong if she used her time powers. Realizing it a moment too late, Sona was devoured by the flames and eliminated.
"My Sona!" Serafall's pained exclamation replaced the victory announcement for Seekvaira.