Hearing about the reward, Haruto perked up a bit.
He lay in Akeno's embrace, unwilling to get up, looking innocently at Rias, indicating that he was listening attentively.
Rias sighed and continued, "Due to a great war with the angels many years ago, the pureblood devil lineage has nearly vanished. To enhance the combat power of devils, the current Satan Beelzebub developed Evil Pieces for devil reincarnation..."
Upon hearing Rias mention Evil Pieces, Haruto stopped fooling around and perked up his ears to listen carefully.
Evil Pieces and the Rating Game were central to all the plots in the original lore.
When watching the anime, he found it interesting, knowing the surface but not the underlying reasons.
Haruto had originally planned to slowly probe and see if the rules here were the same as what he knew and what differences there were in the details.
Unexpectedly, Rias actively provided information.
With this unexpected gain, coming here today was worth it.
Haruto straightened his posture, focusing intently on Rias's narration, not wanting to miss a single word.
"Evil Piece, modelled after Western chess in the real world, is used to enhance the combat power of devils and is created by the current Satan Beelzebub."
"In the Rating Game, there is 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Knights, 2 Bishops, and 8 Pawns, totalling fifteen pieces excluding the King."
"The Queen, Rooks, Knights, Bishops, and Pawns are all subordinates of the King, initially lower-level devils, and if they perform well, they can be promoted to higher-level devils and receive the Evil Pieces for the Rating Game issued by the Satan."
"The higher the individual's ability, the more pieces are required."
Rias paused for a moment, allowing Haruto to digest the information before asking, "Is there anything you don't understand?"
Compared to this, Haruto was more interested in Rias providing more detailed information, such as strength levels and the special abilities of various pieces.
"Rias-senpai, could you elaborate on the Rating Game and the various pieces, as well as the classification of strength?"
Rias nodded and explained in more detail.
"The Rating Game is currently the main way to determine a devil's status.
The Rating Game is a channel that allows low-class devils to be promoted; it is a competition established to adapt to the times and protect the continuation of the race.
Moreover, since the war happened a long time ago, there hasn't been any large-scale conflict among the three factions, and young high-class devils also use the Rating Game for practical training.
The Rating Game is a battle competition between devils, led by high-class devils and ultimate-class devils, with themselves as kings, commanding their subordinates.
However, this is not just a simple battle; many rules and restrictions are set during the competition, and how to utilize these rules and restrictions, as well as the terrain, will affect the king's evaluation.
Based on performance in the competition, if a high evaluation is received, a devils's status can be elevated, even low-class reincarnated devils can improve their status through their performance.
They can be promoted from low-class devils to middle, high, and ultimate-class devils.
Once a reincarnated devil is promoted to a high-class devil, they can obtain Evil Pieces from the Satan and gather subordinates as a king.
However, even if one has become a king, when their master wants to participate in a game, they must still return to their identity as a subordinate to participate."
Haruto nodded, so that's how it is.
It sounded complicated, but in reality, it wasn't hard to understand.
He had never played Western chess, but he could play Chinese chess.
The 'General' and 'King' are equivalent to both sides' kings; if one is defeated by the enemy, they lose.
The rating game cannot be played exactly like chess; aside from this core rule, the other intricate rules have little reference.
Moreover, the essence of the rating game ultimately lies in strength.
If the King is powerful enough, even if all their subordinate pieces are defeated and trapped in the enemy camp, they can still win.
As long as the King defeats all opponents alone, that's enough.
In real chess, such a situation is impossible.
All pieces have equal strength, and victory or defeat depends on strategy.
In the rating game, strategy is certainly important, but the key factor that determines victory or defeat is always one: strength.
After hearing about the rating game, Haruto continued to ask, "Rias-senpai, what is a low-class devil, and what does it mean that the higher the ability, the more pieces are needed?"
Sona spoke up: "Let me explain this."
Like Rias, she is a high-class devil, a pureblood daughter of the Sitri family, and the next head of the family.
If she remained silent, Haruto might think she was inferior to Rias, which wouldn't be beneficial for future recruitment.
After talking for so long, Rias's little mouth was dry, so she didn't compete with Sona.
"Let me explain the abilities of each chess piece."
Sona pointed at Akeno and Tsubaki and said, "First, the Queen possesses the combined abilities of the Rook, Knight, and Bishop. She is the strongest piece under the King."
"The Queen's value is equivalent to nine Pawns, the Rook's value is five Pawns, while the Knight and Bishop are each worth three Pawns."
"The abilities of the other pieces are as follows..."
Rook: High attack and defense. Can use castling to directly swap positions with the King.
Knight: Possesses high speed.
Bishop: Excels in using magic.
Pawn: Has the ability to 'promote.' When positioned in what the King designates as the 'enemy's territory,' it can promote to any piece except the King.
Haruto nodded thoughtfully as his vague memories became clearer. It turned out that the different Evil Pieces not only enhanced certain abilities but also had special effects.
He had genuinely forgotten about this.
After all, Rating Games weren't as captivating as beautiful girls—especially those whose clothes got torn during battles...
"So, Tsubaki-senpai and Akeno-senpai are Queens, while the President and Rias-senpai are Kings?"
Playing along, Haruto asked despite already knowing the answer.
"Correct." ×2
Sona and Rias exchanged a glance before simultaneously revealing their true forms.
With a bang, a sudden gust of wind swept through the room as a pair of jet-black wings unfurled behind them.
A slender, elongated black tail emerged from beneath their skirts, swaying gently.
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