Chapter 233: Everyone Withdraws (Part 1)
Xuelan, the Chinese qipao-clad girl, retracted her fist and frowned at the cat-eared loli. "You're indeed strong, but losing focus during battle is a fatal mistake."
"My apologies, that was my fault."
The white-haired loli said seriously, "To make up for it, I won't hold back from now on."
Although Riser and Rias had made a bet, their servants bore no deep grudges against each other - they were merely serving different masters.
Except for the three former fallen angels - Yuuma Amano and her companions - no one intended to go all out from the beginning.
Since the battle started, Tōjō Koneko hadn't used her full strength, maintaining a level similar to her opponents.
Xuelan, the Chinese qipao-clad girl, was skilled in martial arts. Combined with her Castle class characteristics, her combat techniques slightly surpassed Koneko's.
The cat demon bloodline gave the white-haired loli greater speed and strength, but Xuelan also had Isabela assisting her.
Isabela, who wore a half-mask, was somewhat weaker, but she was also of the Castle class.
Back and forth they went, the three locked in an intense battle.
During usual combat training, everyone would restrain their strength to similar levels to hone their skills.
Tōjō Koneko had originally intended to fight longer to improve her combat techniques, but hadn't expected the other two battles to conclude so quickly. Now she couldn't continue holding back.
Xuelan and Isabela immediately grew serious - in close combat, differences in ability become more apparent.
They knew Tōjō Koneko hadn't been using her full strength, but when she got serious, the terrifying pressure emanating from her slender, petite frame still shocked them.
When combat skills were relatively equal, whoever had greater strength, faster speed, and better endurance would dominate in close-quarters combat.
After unleashing her full S-class strength, Tōjō Koneko moved too fast for Xuelan and Isabela to react.
Xuelan could still rely on her extensive martial arts experience to defend through prediction and instinct, struggling to block the powerful cat punches.
But Isabela, wearing the half-mask, could only take the hits passively.
All she saw was a silver-white figure flashing continuously before tremendous impacts struck her back, chin, and abdomen in succession.
The cool-looking girl in a jacket and jeans lost her balance and stumbled forward uncontrollably. Before she could adjust her stance, another impact struck her chin.
Her mind went blank as her feet left the ground against her will, leaving her floating mid-air in a backward tilt.
"Mmm..."
Isabela let out a pained groan through slightly parted lips, her pretty face visible below the mask contorting in discomfort.
"Thud!"
The ever-silent but ruthless Koneko pushed off lightly with her feet, leaving two cracked indentations on the wooden gym floor as she delivered a decisive knee strike that completely overwhelmed Isabela.
With Isabela down, Xuelan found herself struggling even more in her solitary defense.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!..."
Two slender yet powerful feminine bodies collided repeatedly, each impact producing a sonic boom and sending visible shockwaves radiating outward from their points of contact.
Fists, feet, elbows, palms...
Blocks, deflections, energy redirections, evasions...
The Chinese qipao-clad fighter gave it her absolute all. Under the immense pressure, she felt she was catching glimpses of the threshold to S-rank combat.
Xuelan tried to hold on a little longer. While not hoping for a breakthrough mid-battle, she knew every extra second of this insight would increase her chances of breaking through future bottlenecks.
Unfortunately, against absolute power and speed, her defense lasted less than three minutes before being completely shattered.
Though only three minutes had passed, the two had exchanged over a hundred moves, their speed far beyond what ordinary human eyes could perceive.
"Just who are you? How can you be this strong..."
Xuelan stared at her own trembling, completely unraisable arms in utter astonishment.
It wasn't just her arms—she felt her entire body no longer belonged to her. Simply standing upright was consuming all her remaining strength.
Akeno held the title of Thunder Shrine Maiden, Yuuto was known as the Magic Sword Creator, and Asia was called the Holy Mother's Smile.
As for Haruto and the three fallen angels, everyone in the Underworld knew about them because of Azazel.
Only Koneko remained unknown and unremarkable.
Yet this seemingly insignificant girl had completely overwhelmed her without giving her any chance to fight back.
The white-haired loli retracted her fighting stance, her adorable face still showing no emotion.
"I'm just the club president's servant."
Xuelan gave her a deep look before finally sighing softly. "I admit defeat."
[Two of Riser's castle pieces, eliminated]
"Ah, Koneko, you handled it after all. I really thought our opponents had someone that powerful," Mittelt complained, having just arrived at the indoor gym in time to see Xuelan surrender.
"Seriously, made me come all this way for nothing. I should've gone to watch Yuuma's fight instead."
The white-haired loli ignored the chattering Mittelt, brushing dust off her uniform as she headed toward the courtyard alone.
"Hey, Koneko, wait for me! Honestly..."
After watching the two leave, Xuelan finally couldn't hold on any longer. Her legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
Less than an hour into the match, the battles were already nearing their conclusion.
By the time Yuuto and the others returned to the courtyard, the fighting there had also just concluded.
Heeding Akeno's earlier reminder, Yuuma hadn't toyed with her enemies.
Though her battle had started last, she had defeated Bishop Mihae, Knight Karlamine, and Siris almost simultaneously with Koneko's defeat of Xuelan and Isabela.
"[One of Lord Riser's bishops and two knights are unable to battle]"
Grayfia's mature and seductive voice echoed through the combat space, but by now neither the spectators watching the broadcast nor the combatants within the space could muster any reaction.
In less than twenty short minutes, similar announcements had been coming one after another, making it truly difficult for anyone to maintain interest.
"Impossible! How could this happen!"
Unlike those who had witnessed the battle up close, Riser in the principal's office refused to accept reality.
He had been thinking about quickly crushing his opponent, never imagining that it would be his own side that got defeated—and without even managing to take out a single one of the opponent's pieces.
Even with his level of confidence, he had never considered the possibility of defeating all six of the opponent's servants without taking any losses.
But now facing 6 against 14 with zero casualties on the opposing side, how could Riser possibly accept this?
Fortunately, he still maintained enough rationality not to loudly accuse the Gremory family of foul play.
All major figures from the Phenex family were watching this broadcast - if there were truly any issues, they wouldn't need him to point them out.
No matter how unbelievable it seemed, Riser had to accept the fact that his servants were completely outmatched by Rias's team.
With only Ravel (who hadn't participated in combat) and Yubelluna remaining undefeated, he decided to go see the situation for himself.
He believed he hadn't lost yet. With his and Ravel's Phenex Bloodline, plus the two Phoenix Tears Yubelluna possessed, the three of them could drag out the match until victory.
Even if they couldn't win, at least the match could be terminated.
Sona switched Riser's screen to the center and gave him a close-up shot until he impatiently left the principal's office.
In the courtyard, hovering mid-air, Akeno watched Yubelluna, who had recovered for the second time, with flushed cheeks and excited eyes.
"This must be the last one, what a pity. It seems we can only play until here today."
The Bomb Queen, whose purple robe had nearly turned to shreds exposing large areas of pale skin, gazed warily at Akeno, whose shrine maiden outfit remained spotlessly clean.
Phoenix Tears - the Phenex family's secret treasure that could instantly restore all injuries, including depleted magic power.
The key point was that this item could be used in Rating Games, with a maximum of two drops per match, making it an invaluable treasure indeed.
While not particularly precious to the Phenex family themselves, they could fetch astronomical prices when sold to others.
Aside from their natural advantages in Rating Games, Phoenix Tears were the second reason for the Phenex family's rapid development.
"You've become a High-Class Devil... haven't you?"
Purplish-red hair covered Yubelluna's right eye, adding a mysterious charm to her sexy and enchanting face.
Combined with her tall and voluptuous figure, she was indeed a genuine beauty.
While Riser's character left much to be desired, his taste in women wasn't bad.
His servants couldn't be called one-in-a-million beauties, but they were almost all top-tier, only slightly inferior to heroines like Rias and Mio.
As Queens of the younger generation who both possessed titles, Akeno and Yubelluna had never gotten along well.
To be precise, the Thunder Shrine Maiden had always slightly overshadowed the Bomb Queen, which was why Yubelluna had always wanted to face Akeno directly and defeat her.