Day seven was for rest.
My body needed it. Six days of training with the peerage had pushed me beyond limits I hadn't known existed, and even Enhanced Regeneration had its boundaries. Muscles that had been torn and rebuilt a dozen times needed time to settle. Bones that had broken and healed needed to remember their original shape.
But rest didn't mean idle.
The compound's war room was a converted study, walls covered with maps, a large table dominated by tactical displays, chairs arranged for strategic discussion. When I entered, Rias was already there, crimson hair tied back, expression focused.
"Sit," she said. "We have work to do."
The war room session consumed the morning.
Rias had compiled intelligence on Riser's peerage with methodical precision. Fifteen members, each profiled with abilities, fighting styles, and known weaknesses. The information spread across the table like a deadly family album.
"His Queen," Rias began, pointing to a photograph. "Yubelluna. The Bomb Queen."
A striking woman with purple hair and a calculating expression. The kind of beauty that promised destruction.
"Power Level approximately 60. Explosion magic, long-range specialty, strategic mind. After Riser himself, she's our biggest obstacle."
I filed the information away. Yubelluna. Primary threat. Needed neutralizing early or she'd pick us apart from distance.
"His Knights." Two more photos. "Karlamine and Isabella. Both swordswomen, both dangerous."
I studied their faces. Karlamine had a warrior's intensity, focused, dedicated. Isabella's expression was calmer, more technical.
Karlamine: aggressive, frontal assault patterns. Isabella: defensive, counterattack focus. Handle Karlamine with mobility, Isabella with overwhelming force.
The assessment came unbidden, clinical and precise. I was evaluating my teammates and enemies like chess pieces, calculating their utility, their risks, their optimal deployment.
Rias continued outlining the peerage. Two Rooks, Xuelan and Isabela. Physical powerhouses, durability focused. Three Bishops specializing in different magical schools. And then the Pawns.
"Eight Pawns," Rias said. "Individually weak. Power Levels ranging from 15 to 25. But together, they're dangerous. They'll swarm, overwhelm, exhaust us through attrition."
Kiba nodded. "Divide and conquer. If we get separated, they'll pick us off."
"Which is exactly what they'll try." Rias's jaw tightened. "Riser's tactics are predictable. He sends waves to tire us, uses Yubelluna for precision strikes, then arrives personally to finish what's left."
"Predictable can work in our favor," Akeno observed. Her smile was sharp but controlled. "If we know what he'll do, we can counter."
"The problem isn't knowing." Rias stared at the tactical display, frustration bleeding through her composure. "The problem is surviving long enough to exploit it. His regeneration makes attrition work for him, not us. Every minute we fight, he gets closer to full strength while we deplete."
Silence fell over the room. The math was brutal and undeniable.
Then I spoke.
"What if regeneration has limits?"
Every eye turned to me.
"Explain," Rias said.
I hesitated for only a moment. Keeping this secret served no purpose now. Either we used every advantage, or we lost.
"I have an ability," I said. "Phoenix Analysis. It lets me understand Phenex physiology, including their regeneration."
The Fragment stirred, approving. This was strategic information sharing. Calculated disclosure.
"And?" Kiba leaned forward. "What did you learn?"
"Regeneration isn't infinite. Each restoration costs energy. The more damage he takes, the more he depletes. Push him hard enough, fast enough, and eventually..." I met Rias's eyes. "Eventually, he'll burn out."
The room processed this. Akeno's smile widened. Koneko's expression, blank as ever, somehow conveyed satisfaction. Even Asia looked hopeful.
"You're saying we can exhaust him," Rias said slowly. "Make him regenerate so many times that he can't anymore."
"Yes. But it requires sustained pressure. We need to hit him repeatedly, constantly, without giving him time to recover fully." I pulled up the tactical display, began marking positions. "Which means the plan changes."
[RATING GAME ANALYSIS]
[Enemy Peerage: 16 members]
[Key Threats Identified:]
Riser Phenex (King, PL 85) - Target Yubelluna (Queen, PL 60) - Primary obstacle Karlamine (Knight, PL 40) - Fast, dangerous Isabella (Knight, PL 38) - Technical fighter
[Tactical Assessment: 23% win probability without Phoenix Analysis]
[With Phoenix Analysis: 41% win probability]
[Fragment Note: "Acceptable odds. For entertainment."]
I stared at the numbers. 41% wasn't good. But it was nearly double what we'd had before.
"New strategy," I continued. "Survive, deplete, assassinate. We take out his support pieces quickly. Knights, Rooks, Bishops. Force him to fight with fewer resources. Yubelluna is the priority; without her, his ranged capability drops significantly."
"And the Pawns?" Akeno asked.
"Crowd control. Kiba and Koneko handle swarm tactics. Akeno provides air support and barrier coverage. Asia stays mobile, healing rotation, never in one place long enough to be targeted."
Rias studied the plan, her expression unreadable. "And you?"
"I'm the finisher." The words felt heavy. Final. "When Riser's depleted, when his regeneration starts failing, I hit him with everything. Phoenix Analysis means I'll know exactly when he's vulnerable."
"That's... incredibly risky." Her voice carried concern beneath the strategic assessment. "You'll be fighting his peerage alongside us, then expected to deliver the killing blow?"
"I'll manage."
The Fragment offered its own assessment.
"The plan has merit. Survival is uncertain."
Thanks for the encouragement.
"Encouragement is for children. You wanted analysis. I provided it."
Day eight was tactical drills.
The training compound transformed into a mock battlefield. Rias directed formations: defensive positions, retreat patterns, combination attacks that wove our individual abilities into something greater.
Kiba and Koneko worked the front line. His speed complemented her durability, each covering the other's weaknesses. When enemies pushed through, Akeno's lightning created barriers, forced repositioning, bought time.
Asia moved between us like a shadow with healing hands. Touch, restore, retreat. Never stationary, never predictable. Her Twilight Healing flowed through the team in waves.
And I...
I watched. Calculated. Positioned myself where the gaps appeared, filling holes in our formation with whatever ability fit best.
Kiba overextends on the left. Koneko covers, but leaves the center weak. Asia's rotation brings her too close to the pressure point. Adjust: Akeno shifts barrier angle, I take Kiba's flank.
The thoughts came automatically. Cold. Efficient. Like I was playing chess with living pieces.
Another Echo. Rias's influence, bleeding into my tactical processing. I was thinking like a King, not a Pawn.
I didn't mention it. The battlefield needed cold efficiency. There would be time for warmth later.
If we survived.
The drills continued until sunset.
By evening, we moved like a single organism. Formations shifted without verbal commands. Retreats executed with precise timing. Combinations flowed from one attack to the next, each member trusting the others to be exactly where they needed to be.
It wasn't enough. Against Riser's full peerage, with his regeneration and experience, we'd still struggle.
But it was better. Significantly better.
"Two days," Rias said as we gathered in the common room. "Two days until everything changes."
The weight of those words settled over us like a shroud.
Evening found me on the compound's rear balcony, watching the sun disappear behind the mountains.
Footsteps behind me. Familiar. I didn't turn.
"You should be resting," Rias said, stepping up beside me.
"So should you."
"Touché." She leaned against the railing, her presence warm against the cooling evening air. For a moment, neither of us spoke.
"Thank you," she said finally. "For the Phoenix Analysis. For the strategy. For believing we could win when I..." She trailed off. "When I wasn't sure I could."
"You would have found a way."
"Maybe." Her voice was quiet. "Or maybe I would have accepted defeat before we even started. Made a pragmatic choice. Married him to save everyone the pain of losing."
"That's not you."
"It almost was." She turned to face me, crimson eyes catching the last light. "Do you know why I kept fighting? Even when the numbers said we couldn't win?"
I shook my head.
"Because you didn't give up." Her voice softened. "You arrived in this world with nothing. No power, no knowledge, no reason to care about devil politics or arranged marriages. And you fought anyway. Bled anyway. You made me believe that maybe, just maybe, the numbers didn't have to be the final answer."
Something shifted between us. The air felt thicker, charged with potential.
"Rias..."
"I want you to know," she said, stepping closer. Her perfume reached me, old books and starlight, a scent I'd learned to associate with safety and danger in equal measure. "Whatever happens in two days, I..."
The door behind us opened.
"Ara ara." Akeno's voice cut through the moment like silk-wrapped lightning. "Am I interrupting something?"
Rias pulled back smoothly, her composure perfect. "Just discussing strategy."
"On a romantic balcony at sunset?" Akeno's smile was knowing. "How strategic."
"Did you need something, Akeno?"
"Kiba has questions about the formation adjustments. He's in the war room." Her eyes flickered between us, amusement dancing in their depths. "Take your time. I can tell him you're... busy."
"We're finished here," Rias said, already moving toward the door. But she paused at the threshold, glancing back at me. Something unspoken passed between us.
Later, her expression promised. This conversation isn't over.
Then she was gone, Akeno trailing behind with one final knowing look.
I stayed on the balcony as darkness fell.
Two days. Forty-one percent chance of survival. A plan that required everything to go right and still might not be enough.
The Fragment's assessment echoed in my mind: Acceptable odds. For entertainment.
Entertainment. That's what this was to the thing in my head. A game with stakes it didn't have to pay.
But for me, for Rias, for the peerage, it was everything.
The mountains loomed in the darkness, indifferent to the battles fought in their shadow. Somewhere out there, Riser Phenex waited. A phoenix confident in his immortality, certain his flames could burn anything.
He'd never faced someone who understood exactly how those flames worked. How to make them sputter. How to make them fail.
"The plan is solid," I thought. "The team is ready."
But 41% wasn't certainty. It wasn't even likely.
I thought about Rias's unfinished sentence. About what she might have said if Akeno hadn't interrupted. About the warmth in her voice when she thanked me for believing.
Two days left.
And somewhere out there, a phoenix was waiting to burn everything we'd built.