Phase three began with Koneko walking toward death.
"I'll take Xuelan," she said, her voice carrying no emotion. "...senpai handles the other one."
"Koneko - "
She was already moving. Small feet crossing broken ground, white hair catching the artificial sunlight of the Rating Game dimension. Xuelan saw her coming and smiled - a martial artist's appreciation for an opponent who didn't flinch.
"The little Rook," Xuelan said. "I've been waiting for you."
Koneko didn't answer. She just kept walking until she was within striking range.
Then the world exploded.
Rook against Rook. Strength against strength.
Xuelan's first strike would have killed a Knight. Her fist cracked the air, trailing demonic energy, aimed at Koneko's skull.
Koneko caught it.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the courtyard. Stone cracked. Windows shattered. Koneko's feet carved furrows in the ground as the force pushed her backward - but she didn't fall.
"...is that all?" she asked.
Xuelan's eyes widened. Then she grinned.
The next exchange happened too fast to follow. Kicks and punches, blocks and counters, each impact carrying enough force to crater walls. Xuelan had technique - flowing martial arts that turned every movement into a weapon. Koneko had something simpler.
She refused to break.
Every blow Xuelan landed, Koneko absorbed. Every strike that should have shattered bone met Rook-reinforced durability. She didn't try to match Xuelan's skill. She didn't need to.
She just had to outlast her.
"You can't win by tanking damage forever," Xuelan said, breathing harder now. Sweat beaded on her forehead. "Eventually something breaks."
"...yes." Koneko's expression didn't change. "...you will."
She surged forward - not with technique, but with pure power. A straight punch, telegraphed and obvious, that Xuelan could have dodged in her sleep.
Xuelan dodged. Pivoted. Prepared her counter.
Koneko's other hand caught her ankle.
The world spun. Xuelan found herself airborne, then earthbound, then airborne again as Koneko slammed her into the ground, lifted her, and repeated. Three impacts. Four. Five.
On the sixth, Xuelan stopped moving.
"One Rook, Riser Phenex, retired."
Koneko stood over her fallen opponent, breathing hard but standing straight. Her uniform was torn. Bruises covered her arms. But she was alive, and Xuelan wasn't.
Durability. Sometimes that was all you needed.
My battle with Isabela wasn't going as cleanly.
She'd learned from watching her partner fall. No more waiting. No more measured exchanges. She came at me like a storm, every attack designed to overwhelm before I could find my rhythm.
Light Lance flashed. She batted it aside with a gauntleted fist.
Combat Speed carried me around her flank. She anticipated the angle, spinning to intercept.
Enhanced Reflexes read her counter. She read my read, adjusting mid-swing.
Power Level 50 against my 75. The math said I should dominate. The reality said Isabela had been fighting for decades, and I'd been a devil for weeks.
"You're good," she admitted, driving me back with a combination that left my arms numb. "Better than a Pawn should be. But you're not good enough."
She was right. One-on-one, I couldn't close the gap between potential and experience.
But I wasn't alone.
Kiba appeared behind her like a ghost. Sword drawn, blade singing, aimed at the gap in her armor.
Isabela spun, gauntlet raised to block -
And found nothing. Kiba wasn't there. He'd feinted, drawing her attention, creating an opening.
My opening.
Light Lance formed and flew in the same heartbeat. Golden light, aimed at her exposed back, too fast to dodge, too close to block.
Isabela tried anyway. Twisted, dropped, rolled -
Kiba's blade caught her across the ribs.
She staggered. Blood leaked through cracked armor. Not enough to kill, but enough to slow.
I was already moving. We were already moving - Kiba and I flowing around her like water, attacking from angles she couldn't cover, exploiting wounds she couldn't heal.
We didn't plan it. Didn't coordinate. We just moved in perfect sync, borrowed instincts aligning, combat knowledge merging into something greater than either of us could achieve alone.
"Interesting," the Fragment observed. "His fighting style. Yours. Merging. The Echo enables synchronization."
I didn't have time to analyze it. Just used it.
Kiba went high. I went low. His blade drew her guard up; my lance punched through her knee.
Isabela screamed. Dropped to one leg. Tried to raise her fists for one last defense.
Kiba's sword took her in the shoulder.
"One Rook, Riser Phenex, retired."
Both Rooks eliminated. The walls had fallen.
No time to celebrate. The Bishops had finally entered the fight.
Two women in flowing robes materialized near the main building, their hands already glowing with healing magic. One of them gestured at where Isabela had fallen - too late to save her, but the intent was clear.
"They're support types," I reported. "Healers. They'll restore Riser's regeneration if we don't stop them."
"Then stop them," Rias commanded.
Easier said than done.
The Bishops weren't fighters, but they didn't need to be. Their magic created barriers - layered defenses that absorbed our attacks while they worked. And they weren't trying to win. They were stalling, buying time for Riser to recover whatever reserves our assault had cost him.
Koneko hit one barrier. It cracked but held.
Kiba circled, looking for gaps. Found none.
The Bishops smiled serenely, power flowing from their hands toward the main building. Toward Riser.
"We need to break through," Kiba said. "Quickly."
"I know." I studied the barriers, analyzing their structure with instincts that weren't entirely mine. Light-based construction. Solid but not unbreakable. Weak points where the layers overlapped.
There. Third intersection. Where the barrier's edge met the ground.
Light Lance formed. Not the broad spear I'd been using, but something thinner. Sharper. A needle of golden light designed for precision rather than power.
I threw.
The lance punched through the weak point, barely disturbing the rest of the barrier. It crossed the interior space in an eyeblink, catching the first Bishop in the shoulder.
Not a killing blow. But enough.
Her concentration shattered. Her half of the barrier flickered.
Koneko hit the gap like a wrecking ball.
Stone and magic exploded outward. The Bishop tried to run - too slow. Koneko's fist connected with her midsection, and she folded like paper.
"One Bishop, Riser Phenex, retired."
The second Bishop's eyes went wide. She turned to flee, abandoning her barrier, abandoning her duty, running toward Riser's position with terror on her face.
"Let her go," Rias ordered. "One Bishop won't change the outcome. Focus on the primary target."
The fleeing Bishop vanished into the main building. Above us, lightning and explosions still painted the sky - Akeno and Yubelluna locked in their endless duel.
Eleven down. Four to go.
"You're doing well," Riser called from his throne. "Almost entertaining."
He sat at the highest point of the replica school - the clock tower's observation deck, flames dancing around him like a cape. He'd watched everything. Every pawn eliminated. Every Knight cut down. Every Rook broken.
And he hadn't moved.
"Come now," he continued, Phoenix fire dancing in his eyes. "Entertain me some more. My Queen is still fighting. My Bishop still lives. And I - " His smile widened. "I haven't even begun."
Above, Akeno and Yubelluna circled each other. Queen against Queen. Shrine maiden against bomber. Lightning crackled. Explosions bloomed. Neither could land the decisive blow.
"We need to end the Queen battle," I said. "As long as Yubelluna's fighting, Riser won't engage."
"Akeno can handle her," Rias said, but doubt colored her voice. "She just needs more time."
Time we might not have. The Rating Game had limits - not just on our stamina, but on the patience of the observers. Sirzechs was watching. The underworld was watching. And Riser knew exactly how to play to an audience.
"Ara ara," Akeno's voice crackled through the communication link. "I appreciate the concern, but this Queen has it handled."
Lightning erupted across the sky. Yubelluna screamed.
The battle above intensified.
Eleven down. Four to go. Plus Riser.
I stood with my team in the shadow of the main building, watching the Phoenix on his throne. Koneko beside me, bruised but unbowed. Kiba at my left, sword ready, wounds closed by Asia's healing. Rias behind us all, power crackling around her fingertips.
We'd done the impossible. Fought through a full peerage. Eliminated eleven pieces through strategy and strength and sheer stubborn refusal to die.
But the hardest part was still coming.
Riser's regeneration was legendary. Phoenix fire that healed any wound, restored any damage, made him functionally immortal within the Rating Game's rules. We had a plan - Phoenix Analysis tracking his recovery rate, Battle Surge waiting for the perfect moment - but plans and reality rarely aligned.
"When Akeno wins," Rias said, "we move. All of us together. Overwhelming force."
"And if she doesn't win?" Kiba asked.
Rias didn't answer. She didn't need to.
Above, lightning and explosions danced. Queen against Queen. The real battle was about to begin.
"Eleven down," I said. "Four to go."
"Almost entertaining," Riser repeated from his throne, flames reflecting in amused eyes.
We'd see who was entertained when this was over.