88: Chapter 88

The two exchanged a glance, didn't waste words, and immediately made their move.

"Do you really think that, just the two of you, you can escape from our hands?"

The Phoenix flames on Ravel Phenex suddenly exploded, transforming directly into a firebird that lunged toward Shirone.

The heatwave from the flames instantly dried up the moisture in the surrounding air; even taking a breath scorched the throat.

"Or perhaps, you really believe you can drag us out here just like Rias Gremory planned?"

Ravel Phenex was the strategist among Riser Phenex's peerage, and she could see through Rias Gremory's meager strategic deployment at a glance.

Just like how Akeno Himejima and Himejima Suzaku teamed up to suppress Yubelluna, hoping to gain an advantage.

It was the same situation here.

As long as they took care of the two women in front of them first, they could then bring their people back to support Riser Phenex or Yubelluna.

By then, it wouldn't be Rias Gremory's side besieging Riser Phenex, but rather Rias Gremory being surrounded and killed in return.

In this Rating Game, the most crucial thing was who could seize the time.

Yubelluna had to hold out against the attacks of Akeno Himejima and Himejima Suzaku and could not be broken.

Meanwhile, Shirone and Bennia had to hold Ravel Phenex and her people back at all costs.

Whichever side collapsed first, the advantage would snowball and grow instantly.

"Senjutsu: Cloud Wheel Seal!"

Shirone remained calm in the face of Ravel Phenex's offensive.

White cat ears sprouted from her head, her tail swayed along with them, and she held a cluster of white clouds in her hand, wrapped in chains.

As soon as Ravel Phenex's attack touched that cloud, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, dissipating directly in mid-air.

Ravel Phenex was stunned, but without hesitation, she suddenly unfurled a pair of flame wings from her back, condensed from Phoenix flames.

She lunged straight forward and began engaging in close-quarters combat with Shirone.

Two knights and one bishop of Riser Phenex also rushed up to help.

On the other side, Bennia was also surrounded.

Ten peerage soldiers, plus a Rook, were entangled with her tightly.

Bennia's strength was indeed superior to these people, but she dared not fight them head-on.

Clutching her Grim Reaper scythe, she dodged back and forth among the crowd, looking for the enemy's openings while evading.

She knew very well that if she really went for the kill, she could indeed take out one or two enemies.

But after finishing this wave, the next wave of attacks would likely send her out of the game directly.

She remembered what Rias Gremory had said.

Her and Shirone's mission was simply to hold these people back, the longer the better.

It wasn't about having to win, but rather, not losing.

On the rooftop of Kuoh Academy, Kuroka stretched, her waist slender and her curves alluring.

"Meow meow—Shirone's talent in Senjutsu is much stronger than mine."

While she spoke words of pride, her eyes remained fixed on the battle scene within the different dimension.

Clearly, she was very satisfied with Shirone's performance during this period.

If it weren't for Shirone participating, she wouldn't have bothered to watch this kind of match.

Beside her, Luo Yu spoke indifferently: "Indeed, not bad. To be able to practice Senjutsu to this level in over a year; in terms of progress speed alone, she is faster than you."

Actually, to say Shirone had better talent than Kuroka wasn't entirely the case.

Both used Senjutsu, but their areas of expertise were different.

Shirone specialized in sealing-type Senjutsu, combined with some auxiliary methods, and complemented by her innate monstrous strength.

Kuroka, on the other hand, was more skilled in spatial Senjutsu and illusions.

Watching the peerage members besieging Shirone in the different dimension, Kuroka's tone carried disdain: "These pure-blooded devil nobles really haven't changed a bit."

"Or is this just the nature of the Phenex Clan?"

Luo Yu said: "Anyone with a discerning eye can understand this Rating Game between Rias Gremory and Riser Phenex. With the strength of Rias Gremory's peerage, even without the use of familiars, it wouldn't be easy for Riser Phenex to win fair and square."

"Since he knows it's hard to fight, using some underhanded tricks is not surprising at all."

Kuroka understood: "So you had already left an insurance policy for that girl named Himejima Suzaku?"

The grudge between the Phenex Clan and the Vermilion Bird was quite deep.

To put it bluntly, that Phoenix's flames were strictly suppressed by the Vermilion Bird's spirit flames. Hundreds of years ago, that family had often dealt underhanded blows to the Vermilion Bird's contractors.

"It's best if it's just rumors; if Riser Phenex really dares to touch a single hair on Himejima Suzaku, I will let him know what true fire is."

When Luo Yu said this, his eyes were as cold as ice.

...

Inside the different dimension, the entire field had been razed beyond recognition.

The sounds of rumbling, thunder roaring, and flames exploding blended together; the ground was riddled with pits, covered in cracks of all sizes, and the charred soil was still emitting glowing red sparks, all traces left by high-temperature baking.

From time to time, a bolt of blue lightning would explode in the air, tearing through the atmosphere with a crackling sound.

"Oh my, oh my, the Queen really has some tricks up her sleeve."

Akeno Himejima laughed while her offensive never stopped; together with Himejima Suzaku, she forced Yubelluna until she could barely breathe.

Yubelluna was completely dazed from the beating.

Never mind fighting back, she could barely hold on to her defense.

Her dark magic spells were barely cast before they were completely swallowed by Himejima Suzaku's flames without touching anyone. The occasional one that slipped through was easily dodged by the two of them.

This overwhelming situation had persisted for quite a while.

Just as Yubelluna desperately blocked a strike from Himejima Suzaku, she lost her footing—exposing a gap.

Akeno Himejima's eyes lit up.

The blue thunder above her head began to churn wildly, gathering together as if holding back a fierce force.

"Crack—"

A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, smashing fiercely toward Yubelluna.

Her expression changed abruptly.

But by this time, it was too late to dodge, and she couldn't defend against it either.

That lightning bolt gave her no room for buffer at all, striking her squarely and pinning her entire body to the ground.

Yubelluna was severely injured on the spot, unable to move, and had completely lost the ability to fight.

Sona, acting as the referee, was about to declare Riser Phenex's Queen out.

But just then, a layer of orange-red flames suddenly flared up on Yubelluna's body.

The flames specifically burrowed into the places where she had been scorched by the lightning, sizzling as they burned, as if dispelling the erosion left by the lightning strike.

Yubelluna's injuries healed in the blink of an eye, and even her magic power and stamina were restored to their peak state.

She grinned, her tone carrying obvious provocation: "Rias Gremory's Queen, Akeno Himejima, and the Vermilion Bird Spirit Beast's contractor, we can start the second round."

Sona, serving as the referee, frowned.

What was burning on Yubelluna's body was clearly Phoenix flames.

How could this be?

Serafall whispered an explanation to her: "It must be the seeds of Phoenix flames. The Phenex Clan implanted the seeds into the peerage members, allowing them to gain the same resurrection ability as Phenex members."

Sona's expression darkened: "But this..."

Serafall knew what she was thinking and softened her tone: "Little Sona, this doesn't count as cheating. The rules of the Rating Game don't explicitly forbid it. Moreover, there's no way to investigate whether these seeds belong to Riser Phenex himself or were implanted by someone else."

Sona fell silent.

If it were someone else's power, such as the current head of the Phenex Clan, then it would undoubtedly be cheating.

However, these seeds could also be Riser Phenex's own. He consumed his own power to implant the seeds into his peerage members, which at most counted as exploiting a loophole in the rules.

But anyone with a discerning eye could guess that this was definitely the work of the current clan head.

With Riser Phenex's strength, implanting even one seed would cause his own strength to decline, let alone so many; it was simply impossible.

Just during the moment Sona and Serafall were communicating.

In the gymnasium, a knight was smashed heavily to the ground by Shirone's monstrous strength.

After only a few breaths, just like Yubelluna earlier, flames suddenly erupted on his body.

Phoenix fire.

His injuries recovered instantly.

Clearly, he also had a seed condensed from Phoenix flames implanted in his body.

Shirone immediately retreated and gave a signal to Bennia, who was dodging attacks in the distance.

To tell her to be careful.

Seeing this scene, Ravel Phenex sighed in her heart.

From the bottom of her heart, she did not agree with this decision made by her brother and father.

Even if they won this Rating Game, Rias Gremory would not be convinced.

In the Underworld, many pure-blooded devil noble clan heads watching the match through projection magic shook their heads.

The Phenex Clan's behavior this time was too unsightly.

Although they cleverly avoided the rules and exploited loopholes, doing this would also cause the Phenex Clan to lose quite a bit of face in the Underworld.

However, a few pure-blooded devil noble clan heads had their expressions turn a bit strange.

Why did this scene look so similar to the situation at the previous House Sitri banquet?

Of course, compared to the Sabnock Clan, the Phenex Clan was much smarter.

At least they wouldn't attract that fierce Red Dragon Emperor, right?

Those people shook their heads secretly, feeling amused in their hearts.

What did the affairs of the Gremory Clan and the Phenex Clan have to do with the Red Dragon Emperor?

They themselves were really overthinking it.

No matter how arrogant or reckless that guy was, he wouldn't just look for trouble for no reason, would he?

"Too dirty!"

On the roof of the old school building, Rias Gremory was engaging Riser Phenex, her expression very ugly.

She really didn't expect that, as a dignified pure-blooded devil noble, someone from the Phenex Clan could actually play such despicable tricks in a Rating Game.

They didn't care about noble dignity or honor at all.

"Rias Gremory, obediently be my bride."

Riser Phenex laughed very smugly.

"Hmph, the Rating Game isn't over yet; don't be too happy too soon."

Rias Gremory's expression was gloomy, and her tone was cold.

She knew in her heart that if she couldn't think of a way, she was in trouble for this game.

Sona hadn't ruled Riser Phenex as committing a foul until now, which meant the Underworld had tacitly approved of this method.

At least for this game, it was accepted.

It would definitely be explicitly prohibited in the future, but that would no longer have anything to do with her.

"Akeno and Himejima Suzaku are being held back tightly by Yubelluna; that woman keeps recovering, and there's no way to shake her off."

"Shirone's side isn't doing well either; if we keep dragging it out like this, they'll all be exhausted sooner or later."

"This is tough."

Rias Gremory felt a wave of worry in her heart.

"Rias Gremory's peerage, Knight Bennia, retired!"

Sona's voice echoed in the different dimension.

Bennia was the first to be unable to hold on; she was besieged and defeated by Riser Phenex's pile of peerage members, completely lost her combat ability, and was directly teleported out.

Hearing this news, Rias Gremory and the others' expressions became even uglier.

If this continued, it wouldn't just be Bennia who left.

They would be defeated one by one.

Rias Gremory had anticipated many accidents before, but she really didn't expect Riser Phenex and the Phenex Clan to come up with such a near-cheating tactic.

Or rather, she had underestimated that guy's lower limit.

"This Rating Game is really boring; I don't know how those old guys among the pure-blooded devil nobles can watch it with such enthusiasm."

Kuroka glanced at the magical projections in the different dimension and muttered casually.

"Shirone is out."

After Bennia retired, Shirone couldn't hold on either.

No matter how agile her Senjutsu was, facing such human-wave tactics, she couldn't persist for more than a few minutes before following suit and retiring.