DxD 0055: Prelude

"I guess that decides it." Riser shrugged as he knew that Rias wasn't going to agree without a fight, "Rias, I must ask. Is this adorable little group the extent of your peerage?" Riser asked derisively.

"So what if it is?" Rias said and the only response that she got was a scornful chuckle from Riser as he snapped his fingers.

"I have a full set," Riser said proudly as his peerage appeared in a torrent of flames that was snuffed out just as it appeared.

"What did I say about bothering me, chicken?" Abaddon's annoyed yet chilling voice sent shivers down the spines of the newly appeared women.

"You—" Riser's patience was nearing its limit.

Abaddon ignored him as he closed his eyes and treated him as air. As infuriated as Riser was, he knew that Abaddon was gaslighting him and knew better than to pick a fight here. Even if he could fight Abaddon, Grayfia was a whole other game and her presence couldn't be ignored. He wasn't in his territory and was at a disadvantage.

"My Rias, I suggest that you give up right now. There is practically no point in a rating game with your current lineup." Riser said to her.

"Grayfia. Tell my brother that I'll agree to the Rating Game." Rias said to Grayfia before turning to Riser, "I'll make you eat those words."

"Oh, I'm so terrified. How about a little show to tell you just how outmatched you really are?" Riser taunted as he beckoned his Queen, Yubelluna to him.

"Will you get your set of whores out of this room already? It's getting cramped, and I'm not particularly interested in smelling your scent wafting from them." Abaddon was annoyed.

"W-whores?! How dare you? He's my brother!" One of Riser's two bishops was offended as she called him out. She had long blonde twin tails that were styled into large drill-like curls that swayed with her every move.

"Quiet Ravel." Riser stated before saying, "Rias, I will generously give you ten days to prepare. Get ready to be mine." Riser stated before casting a teleportation circle and disappearing with a fiery flash along with his peerage. He knew that if he had to deal with another second in Abaddon's presence, he would blow up.

"I will let Sirzechs-sama know." Greyfia bowed to Rias and disappeared in a sliver flash of light.

"Good riddance," Abaddon commented.

"No! Not good riddance! I have merely 10 days and I'm completely underprepared for the fight." Rias was panicking as she paced around the room.

"Don't worry. Being friends with Seekvaira has a lot of pros." Abaddon smiled at her, "And hey. If you're still not strong enough to beat him, what am I here for?"

Rias smiled appreciatively at Abaddon's words before asking with a worried tone, "Will she be able to help for so long?"

"No." Abaddon said bluntly, "At best, she can help you stretch the 10 days into 3 months. And even that's very taxing for her."

"90 days is better than 10…" Rias said as she brought her thumb to her lips, biting her nail due to the nervousness. The others were quiet as they didn't know what to say.

…

The next 10 days went by in almost a blur, with Abaddon almost solely focusing on Rias' peerage. He only took a few breaks to meet with Sona and Aika every once in a while, but other than that, his focus was fully on training Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Kiba, and Asia.

The greatest improvements were of course shown by the girls since Abaddon had fewer reservations about helping them recover, Especially Rias and Akeno who were both given most of his attention.

Rias still wasn't able to form the Armor of Destruction, but she was at the very least able to coat certain parts of her body with Destruction energy consciously to defend against attacks. Her reserves also saw a nice boost as she would be able to hold her own in a prolonged fight with more ease.

Akeno solely focused on her lightning abilities so that she could use them with more versatility in the fights. With her enhanced demonic energy reserves, she got quite a few options to work through.

Koneko's improvement was also pretty significant as Abaddon helped her enhance her physical strength with a mix of training and Aether infusion with the intent of increasing her physical strength. For Asia, Abaddon didn't have much to do other than include her in Akeno and Rias' mage-type training. She was a bishop and was talented at working with magic. But she was mostly focused on the healer aspects, so she was better as a supporting character instead.

Kiba's training was the least fruitful as Abaddon didn't really have much to train him with other obstacle courses to help him enhance his agility and reaction speed. That couldn't really be done within the time-dilated zone so he could only do some basic agility training.

By the time everything was over, Rias was fully confident that she could come out victorious against Riser's peerage. With the enhancements that she and Akeno went through, as long as they weren't separated and completely ganged up on, they could take care of the peerage that appeared in the room that day with ease.

The only one who might be slightly troublesome was Riser as Rias wasn't sure of how she would deal with his regeneration.

…

On the day of the rating game.

"You look composed…" Sona and Tsubaki had just entered the Occult Research Clubroom and saw Rias and her peerage sitting calmly while drinking tea.

"How are you both doing?" Rias asked the new entrants.

"We're doing fine thank you. I hope you're all ready." Sona said. Rias noticed Asia's quizzical look and explained, "The Game will be broadcast to the members of both families. They are responsible for managing it."

"I volunteered. It's her first rating game after all." Sona said.

"I promise to make it interesting for you," Rias said with a smile.

Soon, there was a silver flash and Grayfia appeared. She said, "It's almost time, my lady. I hope you're prepared." Rias nodded.

"When it's about to start, you and the rest of your team will be teleported to the battlefield," Grayfia said.

Asia was again confused as this time Akeno explained to her, "It's an alternate space created just for the game. This way we can go ham without worrying about collateral damage." Akeno said with a laugh.

"Go ham you say…" Asia trailed off.

"Well, I should get going," Sona said as she turned around, "I'll be cheering you on."

"Thanks, though try to make it a fair broadcast." Rias smiled at Sona's show of support.

"Of course. I'm a professional. Though on a personal note. He doesn't stand a chance." She said as she gave Rias a glance before leaving.

"Oh, by the way. Satan Lucifer-sama will also be watching the game." Grayfia told Rias.

"My brother, huh…" Rias had a slightly annoyed look after hearing Grayfia's words.

After a few more tense minutes, a red magic circle appeared behind Grayfia and she stepped aside before saying, "The battlefield is ready. Rias-sama, please step inside the circle."

…

Abaddon was sitting in the student council room with Sona and Tsubaki who were there to manage the broadcast.

"What do you think?" Sona asked Abaddon as she looked over at the many different screens that were showing the battlefield. By Rias' request, it was a replica of the school building. Which meant that this was familiar territory for Rias. And she was completely utilizing her advantage of home ground.

Koneko and Kiba were already moving through the prominent areas together and setting up traps while Akeno was also preparing the advantageous spots. Rias was in her home base, the Occult Research Clubroom, with Asia as they discussed something.

"It's going to be difficult, but it's doable. Rias and Akeno for one are currently strong enough to give Riser a run for his money. Unless he pulls a surprise out of his flaming ass, Rias should be victorious." He said after examining the preparations from both sides. Especially since Riser was completely underestimating Rias and her peerage. He was just having fun in his base while allowing Rias the time to prepare the battlefield in her favor.

"This is a variation of a capture-the-flag scenario where the player must capture their opponent's home base. Which involves staying there for 5 minutes without the presence of the opponent to interrupt the capturing process. Rias might not even have to fight Riser in the first place." Sona commented.

"You and I both know that that's not going to happen. It's going to end in an all-out showdown as it happens in all capture-the-flag games." Abaddon replied to Sona as he looked with an anticipatory look at the screens. He wanted to see how much of his training they could utilize.

After a while, everyone started moving.

"It's starting…" Sona said as she saw the first contact happen between Koneko and Riser's Bishop who was being accompanied by three of his pawns.

"Typical Rias. She went for the gymnasium first…" Abaddon smiled as he understood Rias' motivation behind her action. She wanted to capture the central location so that it would be difficult for Riser to directly reach her home base.

***

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