Chapter 75: Lucias vs Astaroth

"Thanks for the evil piece, Ajuka-san"

Lucias said while playing around with the mutated chess pieces in his hand with an amused expression on his face, while the 3 Maous stared at him with an apologetic expression on their faces.

"Please forgive his insolence, Lucias-san. He is still young and naive so he made acted recklessly. I hope his actions wouldn't affect our alliance"

Ajuka said in an apologetic tone while staring at Lucias who was devoided of any expression on his face.

"Are you asking for me to spare him, Ajuka Beelzebub?"

Lucias asked in a displeased voice causing all 3 of them to shake their heads in response as a nervous smile decorated their faces.

"T-That wasn't what I mean, Lucias-san. He must pay the price of his actions for offending someone like you, and he already betted his life and clan on the line so we have no right to interfere anymore"

Ajuka immediately explained while Lucias used [Trace] on the evil pieces to create a duplicate of each piece before teleporting the original back at the headquarters.

"... Also, you don't have to worry about the bet that Diodora has proposed a while ago. I'll fulfill our end of the deal and give every property of the Astaroth Clan to you after you win... He has done nothing but trouble for the devil faction so... his life is in your hands, Lucias-san"

Beelzebub added with a serious expression on his face, staring directly at Lucias who only looked at him with an expressionless face.

"Good... You three should go back to your seat, and enjoy the show... also, I won't hold back even if you beg me to"

Lucias said causing both Ajuka and Sirzechs to look at each other before releasing a regretful sigh as they watched Lucias place the pieces in his inventory.

"Even though you didn't give me the king piece... I guess this is enough. I'll create the king piece myself"

Lucias said causing Ajuke to widen his eyes as he didn't expect for Lucias to know about it's existence.

"It's not that I don't want to give it to you, Lucias-san... All 9 King Pieces are currently missing, it was suppose to be under the jurisdiction of the council, but... since you already got rid of them, we still found nothing in their territories so we can only assume that they gave it away"

Ajuka explained causing Lucias to grin as a teleportation magic circle appeared beneath his feat, connecting to the Sitri Mansion so that he can prepare for the rating game 1 hour from now.

"If you 3 aren't still able to fully control your own subordinates. I'll do the initiative and take control of the devil faction myself. I'll clean up all of the bugs that is in this faction if I take over. So do your best and show me what you 3 can do"

Lucias said before completely dissapearing from the Astaroth causing the 3 to sigh in relief as the pressure that they felt suddenly disappeared from their shoulders.

"Hmph! You should thank So-chan after this. If it weren't for her, Lu-chan would've already attacked the devil faction"

Serafall said in a displeased tone causing both Ajuka and Sirzechs to wryly smile at her direction.

"I would've preferred it if he just killed those oji-samas. I couldn't careless of what happens to the faction as long as So-chan is happy!☆"

"... The Maous of this generation are filled with irresponsible devils..." (Ajuka)

-with Lucias-

"By the command seal, I order all of my servants, except for Miyaoi, Hassan, Artoria, Gilgamesh, and Nightingale to appear in front of me"

Lucias muttered while standing on top of a desolate cliff in the underworld causing the giant command seal on his back to illuminate as several figures of people started to teleport in front of him, all with the same confused expression on their faces.

"All of you must be surprised on why I called eveyone here. To simply put it, we're going to play chess"

Lucias said straight to the point before taking out the 15 mutated pieces from his inventory, all having the aura of Divinity, and Chaos around them due to the nature of Lucias' power.

"Chess?"

Mash muttered while staring at the pieces in Lucias' hand with a curious expression on her face.

"We're going to play a rating game against Diodora Astaroth, so I need a few of you to be part of my peerage"

Lucias shouted as the 15 pieces started to float around him before he started to explain to his servants how the evil pieces work.

"Since most of you already know what chess is. I'll get straight to the point, basically I need 15 people to join me as my chess pieces. There are 2 rooks, 2 bishops, 2 knights, 1 queen, and 8 pawns. Each have their own perks and buffs. The rook gives additional buffs in strength, bishop in magic, knight in speed, and queen in all aspects. The pawn will recieve little to no buffs but they are allowed to promote themselves to any other pieces once they step in the enemy's territory"

"So... It's basically chess, but with us as pieces, huh?"

Emiya muttered causing Lucias to nod his head in response before continuing his explanation.

"I'll be king, and just like chess. If I get defeated or if I surrender we lose, and vise versa. We only have a few minutes left so let's immediately choose who will be joining this 'game'..."

Lucias said before grabbing the knight pieces in his hand.

"Hmm... Okita and Modred will be my knights"

Lucias said causing both Okita and Mordred's expression to brighten before both of them walked out of the crowd.

"This is going to be fun"

"I won't dissapoint your expectations of me, master"

Both of them as the knight pieces went inside their body, causing their bodies to glow as a powerful divine aura started to devour their entire body before a connection started to form between them and Lucias.

"For the bishops... Skaði, and Merlin, if you don't mind"

Lucias said causing Merlin to step forward with a bright smile on his face before Scáthach-Skaði followed him after with a serious expression on her face.

"Go ahead, Master"

Merlin said causing the bishop piece to enter his body as Lucias glanced at Skaði who was staring at him with a stoic expression on her face.

"How about you Skaði? If you don't want to join then I don't mind"

Lucias said as he watched her walked towards him while her lancer counterpart only hid at the back, fully knowing what she would do.

"Hmm... For a man to not visit his new fiancée for the past few days... How dissapointing"

"... fiancée?"

"Even if I am far from my prime. I am still eligible for marriage, Master"

"..."

Lucias remained silent, finding her actions strange since she wasn't like this before he maxed out of all the bond levels of his servants with him, but he didn't expect that she will be one of the girls who the 'creator' has said that 'applied' for his harem.

"... strange..."

Lucias muttered while observing her as he tried to wrack his brain on how the bond crystal works since the item dissapeared as soon as he maxed out everything a few days ago so he couldn't read the description of the item.

"... Just hurry up and give that piece to me"

Scáthach-Skaði said after a helpless sigh, noticing the strange expression on his face causing Lucias to reculantly give her the piece.

"Did your Original body even agreed to this?"

Lucias asked causing her to mysteriously smile at his direction without answering his question before walking back at her previous spot.

"... *Cough* Let's move on, for the rook... Cù Chulainn, and... Heracles. You two will be my rooks"

*ROAR!!*

Heracles shouted as he walked towards Lucias with his usual mad expression while Cú Chulainn grinned mischievously before walking towards Lucias. 

"For the queen..."

"Me!!! I'll be your queen!!"

Kiyohime shouted with an enthusiastic expression on her face causing Lucias to look at her with a wry smile on his face.

"Sure-"

"Viy, Give me that"

Anastasia suddenly interfered as the spirit behind her forcefully grabbed the queen piece which was floating in the air, causing Kiyohime to glare at her direction.

"I'll be his queen"

Anastasia cooly declared as she placed the piece in her chest causing Lucias to wryly smile before grabbing Kiyohime by her kimono to stop her from attacking Anastasia.

"... For the 8 pawns... who should I choose?"

Lucias said while glancing at his remaining servants with a conflicted expression on his face before he felt a slight tug in his sleeves, causing him to look down at the 2 little girls who were tugging his sleeves.

"Mommy, I want to join!"

"M-Me too, Master"

Abby and Jack said with pleading eyes as they looked up at Lucias, causing him to unconsciously pat their heads in response.

"... Sure"

Lucias said causing both of them to brightly smile as they simultaneously grabbed their own pieces that were floating in the air.

"M-Master-sama... Gohg, Gohg want's to join too"

Gohg requested as she copied what Abby and Jack were doing a while ago, causing him to wryly smile as he gave her a single piece that was floating in the air.

"... It's strange how none of you needs more than one piece... is it because I'm more powerful than all of you?"

Lucias muttered while watching Gohg hold his hand with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Mash, Jeanne, you two don't want to join?"

"We will let the new servants take this opportunity. This is a wonderful method to give them a taste of fighting the beings of this dimension"

Jeanne answered with a kind smile on her face causing Lucias to nod his head in response before glancing at Shuten Douji and Ibaraki Douji, who were both watching everything unfold in amusement.

"How about you two?"

"I'll follow whatever you say, Danna-han"

Shuten answered with a soft yet seductive smile on her face as she casually grabbed two pawns from the air.

"Wait a minut- "

"No need to answer me, Ibaraki"

Shuten softly smiled as she forcefully inserted the piece in Ibaraki's chest before placing one inside her own causing Ibaraki to glare at her direction.

"We're doing this for our husband, Ibaraki so no need to be so grumpy~"

Shuten responded with a casual smile on her face before drinking her extremely corrosive sake, ignoring the angry oni by her side.

"... Ereshkigal, Ishtar, Altera, and Kintoki. You 4 will be the remaining pawns"

Lucias said while pointing his finger at the 2 useless goddess who were watching them at the side with a clueless expression on their faces.

"This is gonna be golden!"

Kintoki excitedly shouted while Altera only silently nodded her head in response to her master's command, summoning her large sword in her hands.

Altera has red eyes and white, veil-like hair under her actual white veil, her body carved with the marks of war and tattoos of combat as the Crest of the Star.

"We only have 10 minutes left, so everyone who were chosen will stay here. The rest of you will go back to the headquarters, you can watch the rating game if you want back at the headquarters. Just ask Raynare to prepare the projection magic connecting to this place"

Lucias said before teleporting all of them back to the headquarters.

"Now then..."

Lucias muttered as he glanced back at the servants behind him with a stoic expression on his face.

"... If the enemies are the holy maiden that he captured, kill them without pain but... if it was anyone else... you already know what I'm pointing at right?"

Lucias said as Cú Chulainn to smile in amusement before conjuring a large magic circle below them to teleport them to the venue of the rating game.

Timeskip

[Now, the battle of the century is about to begin! A fight involving one of the 4 promising devils and an an unknown human that is part of the Forsaken Faction!!]

The announcer shouted causing the crowd to scream in excitement from the mention of the Forsaken Faction, fully knowing that if they're involved the rating game would turn bloody pretty quickly.

[From the east gate, it's Astaroth Diodora's team!]

The announcer shouted as he pointing his hand at the east gate where Astaroth, together with 15 masked devils of different physique, walked out of with a confident smile on his face.

"Pfft- so that's why he was so confident about it. 15 Satan-Class demons. To think that he is part of [Khaos Brigade]"

Lucias muttered with a large grin on his face, noticing the chaotic and unstable aura of the 15 figures who were following Diodora from behind. An aura that was extremely similar to the demons that invaded their dimension.

"For one of the treasured youths to actually betray his own faction, how ironic"

Lucias said before glancing at his servants who were preparing their weapon for the fight.

"All of you, go ahead and have fun since our enemies are enough to spar with you, so all of you don't need to hold back anymore"

Lucias advised causing both Cú Chulainn and Mordred to smile in excitement.

[And finally from the west gate, it's Lucias Team!!]

The announcer shouted as he pointed his arm at the west game of the stadium, causing the gate blocking them to open, revealing the spacious circular stadium, where several floating islands were in the middle of the stadium.

"Everyone seems excited"

Lucias muttered as they arrived at the large stadium in the Maou Territory. Noticing that not only devils, but fallen angels, angels, and even other mythological gods have gathered around the stadium where the rating game it to take place.

"... How did they invite so much people when I only gave them 2 hours to prepare everything?"

Lucias muttered with a strange expression on his face, noticing Governor who was excitedly waving his hand at Lucias.

"... What the hell are they doing..."

Lucias said as a long snake like ladder connected the floating rock in the sky and their gate.

[Hello, everyone! The broadcaster for this match will be I, Naud Gamigin from the house of Gamigin of the former 72 Pillars, who will be broadcasting to you!]

An extremely flashy announcer introduced causing the crowd to scream in excitement as Lucias and his servants arrived at their base.

[The arbiter for this game will be Rudiger Rosenkreutz!]

The announcer said causing the majority of the female devils to shriek in excitement as a handsome silver haired devil arrived at the panel.

[And our special guest! We have the Governor of the Fallen angels, Azazel-sama, and the King of Spades, Michael Seraph, as the commentators today! Give them both a round of applause!]

"... Why are they both here..."

Lucias muttered as the two faction leaders stepped in while both of them waved at the large crowd of different species around the stadium.

[Governor Azazel, you are famous for having a good relationship with Sirzechs Lucifer-sama, and also the leaders of various factions and you are also famous for being the leading expert in the research of the Sacred Gears. For today's match, how would you look at this game?]

The announcer asked causing both Governor and Michael to look at him with a strange expression on their faces, as they already knew how this game would turn out even before it began

[I just hope that Lucias-sama end the matches quickly or else... It would be really boring, but since Astaroth have offended him, I guess the chances of that happening is slim]

Governor said causing Michael to nod his head in agreement with a soft smile on his face before glancing at Lucias' direction.

[To think that the Governor Azazel have such a high validation of this unknown human. Would you like to share us why do you think that way?]

[If you knew who he is then, you'll also think the same way. Only a few handful people of the devil faction actually know his real identity, including the Maous and their peerage]

Governor answered with a large grin on his face causing Riduger to look at him in confusion.

[It's hard to explain the proper limit of his strength. Even the two of us don't know how powerful he truly is] (Michael)

[Hmm... To put it simply, he can kill everyone here if he wanted to and none of us can stop him. That's how powerful he is]

Governor added causing Rudiger to look at him in shock since the two faction leader themselves look up to this unknown human, which made it more believable since lying to the crowd doesn't benefit any of them.

[Don't ask anymore questions about his identity since the person himself doesn't want to be known until the conference one day from now. Just continue on with the match. He hates being recognized too much because of his identity so he prepares to be low-key... and his lazy to deal with the crowd so he hide his identity]

Governor commented with a slight chuckle causing Lucias to clench his fist in annoyance from getting called lazy by a slacker like him.

[I-I see, then let's first thank the kindness of the current head of the Phenex Clan for sponsoring this match. So each team will be recieving 20 bottles of pheonix tear for the match!]

The stadium suddenly caused un uproar due to the information since all of them knew how valuable pheonix tears are now especially when they're in the state of war with the invaders of their dimension.

[Before explaining the special rule, I would like to explain the flow of this game! This game won't be the type where all the team members will be running through the field, but will be done in a match-style! This is due to keeping in mind that this will be a blitz and also because it was organised to heat up all of you, the viewers! And to keep the game fair since according to the Maous, Lucias Frey has lived through the battlefield and has a grasp on tactics and strategies, so a normal rating game is out of the question according to the higher ups of the devil faction!]

The announcer explained causing Lucias to sigh in dissapointment before glancing at Astaroth who was grinning widely like this was all part of his plan.

[And now for the special rule which will determine the matches! Now will the [King]'s from both sides progress towards their personal stands in their bases]

The announcer said causing Lucias to glance at the stand located at their base before casually climbing up the stand causing a large monitor to appear in front of him.

[There is a die in front of you! They will be the key for the special rule! Yes, the rule for this Rating Game today is one of the major game types! It's the "Dice Figure"!]