Interlude

|3rd POV|

Many people gather in the arena where many devils fight each other. Today is the Final of a Rating Game between devils under twenty. The Rating Game tournament is divided into two sections: the General Rating Game and the under twenty Rating Game.

As its name suggests, the under twenty branches are filled with the devil under twenty years old. Once they reach twenty years old, they will get into the general section where many veterans fight.

Right now, people are really excited to see the fight between two massive houses. House of Bael and house of Phenex. They want to see the Final round of the day between Riser Phenex and Antrian Bael.

People already know the famous Riser Phenex, the third son of Lord Phenex. However, what people are excited about is the prodigy coming from the Bael family branch. He is known for his massive demonic power and control over his Power of Destruction.

He managed to punch through the preliminary stage with ease. While his peerage members did not shine as brightly as him, they managed to defeat a few of their enemies. It is really different than what Riser and his peerage went through.

Riser and his peerage members blast all enemies in front of them with overwhelming firepower. It was more of a massacre than anything. Each of his enemies underestimates Riser and can only regret their choice when they are defeated with ease.

All of Riser's enemies are not even weak devils. They are too proud to show their full strength to a child and decide to hold back. Riser, on the other hand, will not waste this chance by holding back as well. No. He and his peerage members went all out from the very beginning.

The result is very destructive.

And this is what Antrian and his peerage are currently discussing.

"Rin Tohsaka, Sakura Matou, Illyasviel von Einzbern and Shirou Emiya. Those are the pawns of Riser Phenex. Let us start with the weakest among them."

Antrian presses the remote button, and the hologram behind me shows the profile of Sakura.

"Sakura Matou. Rumor says that she is the illegitimate child of the Abaddon clan. She has the power of Hole. As you know, Hole is a power that can absorb and reflect any attack coming at them. However, Sakura over here has a mutation of that power. She can store any attack inside her Hole for who knows how long. This makes her have an option when we decide to fight her in close combat. However, she did not have much experience in close combat by the look of it."

Antrian gathers this information by looking at the previous fight between Riser and his team against the other team. He thought that Sakura could not fight in close combat because Shirou and Illya were always near her and protected her when the others came to her.

Yes, that is somewhat true. Sakura is not really good at close combat, but it does not mean she cannot do it. She can but not as well as the others.

"The next one is Rin Tohsaka. She is a well-rounded fighter. She has this weird magic that involves jewels. This jewel is very dangerous. It can become anything from a shield to a cage that holds you down. Not only that, but she also has an attack that weakens you when she hits you with it. I don't know what kind of attack this is, but she will make a gun gesture with her hand before firing her attack. Not only that, but she also knows some martial arts. By consulting my uncle, he said that it was a combination of Bajiquan and Karate. Be ready for a sudden movement and powerful attack. My uncle said that these martial arts consume a lot of energy. If you face her, make sure you play defensive but not too defensive."

Antrian pressed the button once again, and this time, it was showing Shirou's profile.

"Shirou Emiya. The descendant of Cuchulain and the holder of Hrunting. He is a thoughtful person to beat. He is fast, and he is durable enough to take a few hits. Not only that, his weapon is very deadly. Gae Bolg and Hrunting is a legendary weapon that goes toe-to-toe with Seven Excalibur Pieces. Not only is he a great close combat fighter, but he is also great with bow and arrow. Each arrow has great firepower, and I suggest dodging every single one of them. There is a Japanese cartoon depicting Shirou as a human who can copy a Legendary weapon, but it was not true after consulting this to another devil. I hear it was a trick the Phenex clan made to confuse many people."

Not a single devil other than Riser and his peerage know about Shirou's true power. They did not know that he could use more than those two legendary weapons. Riser wants this to stay for as long as he can.

With the rumor being thrown around by Medea, Hermione, and Illya around the underworld, the Fate series is not real. How can a human copy a legendary weapon with ease? That is ridiculous.

"Lastly, Illyasviel von Einzbern. She is the most dangerous pawn Riser has. Don't her size and innocent look fool you. She is vicious in battle…."

Antrian's mind goes to the battle before him, where a young master of the Purson clan decides to underestimate her.

"Berserker! Rip his spine out of his body! Destroy his brain with your ax! Rip his testicle away!"

He shudders, remembering the poor sod who gets torn apart by a giant made of pure muscle. Antrian decided to want his peerage members, so they did not have the same fate as the poor soul.

"Anyway, as you guys watch in the previous battle, she can summon a gigantic golem made of an unknown material that she calls Berserker. A fitting title as this golem fights like a Berserker. This thing did not know the pain and will continue to charge toward you at high speed even when you attack it with your strongest attack. The only thing I can think of when you are facing this thing is to run and hide or regroup to me where I blast this golem with my Power of Destruction."

Antrian's peerage members nodded their heads in understanding. They are confident that their king's power can destroy this golem.

"Let us move on to Riser's Bishop, Rook, and Queen. His Bishop consists of two powerful Magic Caster. The first one is someone called Caster. I don't know her real name, and the clan head cannot get this information because Riser has yet to participate in the General Rating Game where their real name needs to be posted. Anyway, Caster is a powerful magician. She can cast more than fifty powerful spells at once. She is a master of all basic elements. Not only that, she has a weird pre-casted spell around her arms that lets her teleport a few meters away from her previous location. This makes her a slippery opponent. Because of her position as Bishop, she is not good at Close Combat fighting. Lock her movement and fight her in close combat. That is the strategy we will use."

Antrian presses the remote button, and Hermione's profile appears behind him.

"Hermione Granger. She is the closest thing to a healer in Riser's peerage. However, don't let that position fool you. She is also a master of magic, just like her teacher, Caster. While she is mostly healing her fellow peerage members, she can cast a powerful spell to defeat you in case someone wants to fight her. Many devils fall for this trap, and they immediately get defeated by this woman."

Seeing his peerage member nodding their head, Antrian then switches to another profile.

"Kara In-Ze. She is the newest member of Riser's peerage. I already hear many people calling her the upcoming juggernauts. The title Valerie Vassago nee Phenex once held, and I can understand why they call her that. She is powerful, fast, and very durable. She is like the Golem Illyasviel summon. She can take much damage while ignoring the pain. The strategy for her is to lure her toward me where I can finish her quickly."

Antarin then switched the profile to both Kuroka and Riser.

"Kuroka and Riser Phenex. Queen and King of Riser's team. The reason why I have them both here is that they always go together. Riser will be the one in the front while his queen is supporting him from behind. Riser is a straightforward opponent. He is a master of two elements: Fire and Earth. He can combine those two into lava and cause untold destruction. This lava control of his is very annoying. He can alter the battlefield into an ocean made of lava if you prolong the fight, and once the ground is filled with lava, you are as good as dead. He can control all those lava to surround you and make a cage made of lava. His fire is also hot enough to punch through most things, making Riser one of the most destructive opponents, but I know that he cannot beat Power of Destruction."

Antarin knows that he cannot underestimate Riser, but he also believes that his Power of Destruction is the ultimate trump card that does not have any weakness.

"As for Kuroka, she is a master of the environment. She can speed up the process of Riser's lava ocean plan. She can spread a massive poison fog to weaken her king's enemy. She can even stab the enemy king in the back when they do not pay enough attention to her. She is a mistress of poison and stealth. Because of this reason, I want some of you to distract her while I fight Riser Phenex."

*DING* *DING* *DING*

Just after Antarin said that, the bell rang, indicating that the strategy time was over.

"Let's win this fight. Lord Bael promised to promote me to the main family if I win this fight."