46 Playing Chess with Kuroka

Izashi placed his bet on the nature of the devils, the greedy nature of the devils. This was the reason for his great confidence that the things were going to go just the way he planned them.

There was a 10% chance for it to take an unexpected turn was because there was indeed a small chance that the head of the Phenex House wouldn't agree to those details and would simply reject them.

He was bored at the moment and decided to help out Rias in her training, she was training a bit rougher than usual. It was probably to release her frustration that she couldn't do anything to help out Izashi.

She was releasing all of that frustration in her training, it was visible with the way she used her magic strength. Maybe she was thinking of the targets as Riser's face and hitting them with a huge amount of magic power.

Asia was training alongside Akeno at the moment, Akeno was teaching her on how to control the magic power. It was necessary for a bishop to learn how to control her magic power…

Kuroka was helping out Koneko by throwing multiple rocks at Koneko in an attempt to train her reflexes. She wasn't being merciful and was throwing at a high strength.

This was the reason why Koneko wasn't worried about her sister and Izashi competing against Riser in the rating game, she still wasn't sure about Izashi's strength but from what she had witnessed in the church.

That control and that magic power! He had all the power he needed to defeat Riser without even receiving a scratch. She actually thought that the conditions were a little unfair for Riser.

Riser was going to fight against Izashi who would easily be able to wipe out the floor along with his peerage, and now that even Kuroka was going to come alongside him in the rating game, his victory was nearly assured.

This was what Koneko felt about the rating game about to happen tomorrow, she didn't realize that she was closer to the truth than she imagined.

The day passed without anyone even realizing it, the head of the phenex house agreed after he heard the conditions of the rating game from Grayfia. He was a bit skeptical if only two people were going to compete against Riser and his peerage.

Even though they weren't too powerful, they still have a good win ratio in the rating games. Besides, with a cheat like Phoenix Tears to help themselves in the battle, it was nearly assured that he would win.

Zeoticus had no problem agreeing to it, he simply wanted to form blood ties with the Phenex Family and get his hands on the Phoenix Tears. They were incredibly rare and expensive in the underworld, and only the Phenex Clan had the capability to create them.

The date of the rating game was upon them. To make it completely fair for both sides, they decided that the rating game scene would be at the replica of the Kuoh high School academy.

Soon, Grayfia started to announce in a loud voice, "Everyone, I am Grayfia, the servant of Gremory Family, the appointed judge between Gremory Family and Phenex Families. After careful consideration, the location of this rating game shall take place in a replica of the Kuoha Academy."

Rias was watching the rating game along with the rest of her peerage, she was somewhat worried but after being consoled by Izashi, she held it in her heart and concentrated on the match being displayed to her.

Izashi sat on top of the sofa and started to think 'Hmm… So, what should I do? Should I simply charge through and destroy everyone along the way? Or should I wait for his peerage here before defeating them and then go ahead to challenge Riser. The second one seems like it would consume unnecessary time and I would be too bored during that time.'

He stared at Kuroka with a mischievous grin present on his face, "So, Kuroka-chan, want to have some fun?" Kuroka wasn't one to pass on any opportunity for fun, she excitedly nodded her head.

"Of course nya~. Have I ever said no to some fun nya~?" She questioned him with a faint smile of her own, she wondered what plan he had in his mind.

Izashi started to speak up his plan, "It's a relatively simple plan…" Soon enough, he finished speaking up the plan.

Kuroka's face mirrored the mischievous grin present on Izashi's face, "I like the plan nya~!" Izashi pats her head to and spoke out, "Then get to work!"

Kuroka disappeared from the room, Izashi pulled out a chess board from the drawer and set up on top of the table. He waited around 15 minutes before Kuroka returned with a grin on her face.

"Let's start the game, shall we? What do you want to take, white or black?" He asked her while maintaining a smile on his face.

"Black nya~!" Kuroka replied with that same smile, though she was also curious of playing chess with Izashi. She had never played against him, Rias did say that she had never been able to defeat him in chess.

And he had never went against Sona, so she wasn't exactly sure of his level. Kuroka wasn't a pro at chess but she could hold her own against Rias.

Izashi had the first turn since he had White Pieces and he moved his pawn. They started to play chess and started to get into it, they were lost in the world of chess that they didn't realize anything happening outside of the room.

~~In the School Gym~~

Kuroka stood there with smile on her face, she was staring at the 2 pawns and Riser's rook. She spoke out, "Let's play tag. You all have to catch me. If you do, I will step aside and retire myself from this rating game."

Hearing that, Riser's peerage members eyes twinkled, they felt like this girl was being too arrogant in front of them. They believed that if they were all together then there was no way they wouldn't be able to catch her.

So, Riser's peerage started their chase, they started to chase Kuroka all around the gym. They would use attacks but each and every one of them was narrowly dodged by Kuroka.

It looked like she wasn't even trying right now, which decreased the morale among Riser's peerage. To counter this and make her get out of the way, Riser ordered all of his peerage members to try and catch her or injure her with whatever means necessary.

Magic was flying all over in the gym hall but not a single one of it managed to hit Kuroka. This continued for 2 hours before all of them were so tired that they were about to drop in exhaustion.

In the Occult Research Club room, Kuroka was throwing a tantrum as she just experienced 10 straight loses. She spoke up, "Nooo… Another match nya~! I am not convinced of my loss, this time I will observe everything and won't make a single mistake nya~!"

Izashi let out a sigh because he was a bit tired after winning 10 times, "Kuroka-chan, chess is different. Just the observation isn't enough. You have to plan and react in such a way that everything that the opponent does is within your expectations and trap him."

He suddenly turned his head towards the entrance on the room, "Isn't that right, Riser Phenex?" He didn't seem surprised to see Riser here, even Kuroka wasn't surprised.

Riser however thought otherwise, he thought that Izashi was bluffing with his calm facade, he closed his eyes, touched his own hair and started to list out his 'clever' plan, "I guess it was a good idea to let my peerage take care of that Neko girl and hold her in the gym room. Now, I can fight you alone-"

Since, Izashi's body was covering Kuroka, and Riser wasn't paying much attention to them, he had completely missed Kuroka sitting in front of Izashi. Kuroka deviously smiled at him, "What nya~? Cat got your tongue?"