At Serafall's question, Takumi simply shook his head.
"Nope. My Divine pieces are all the same. When the time comes, whatever I say their rank is—that's what they are."
"…You're incredible."
Serafall gave him a thumbs-up and held a moment of silence for Riser—about 0.01 seconds.
Riser had been dreaming big: pit demon peerage against demon peerage, and win through sheer roster strength.
But Takumi was straight-up cheating.
Every demon who fused with a Divine Envoy piece was basically rocking power on par with a demon who'd fused with a King piece—and that kind of lineup, if Takumi could enter Rating Games himself, he'd steamroll all the way to first place without breaking a sweat.
Unfortunately, under normal rules, Rating Games only allow participation up to the Ultimate-class Demon tier.
If someone at Maou-level jumped in, people would call it bullying a child.
A Phenex-versus-Morax Rating Game like today—where one side deliberately stirred it up—was rare even in the Underworld.
Still, even if Takumi couldn't personally take the field, Sona and Rias absolutely could.
In the Underworld, Rating Games were one of the fastest ways to climb in status.
The top three ranked demons were said to possess power that could rival the current Maous—Ultimate-class among Ultimate-class—praised as the crystallization of countless battles refined by the Rating Game system.
For a declining Clan like House Gremory, high-ranked demons were basically gold.
If Rias could reach even the top twenty, there was no way her Clan would be able to push a political engagement on her the way they were trying to now.
Catching the hunger in Rias and Sona's eyes, Takumi added with a smile:
"My Divine Envoy pieces can also stack with demon pieces—and then boost the peerage even further. If you want, I can provide Divine Envoy pieces for your peerages too. But there's one condition: anyone who fuses with my Divine Envoy piece, their true ownership will be under me."
For most demons, that was a dealbreaker.
For Rias and Sona? It was… negotiable.
After all, if they already belonged to him, then whether their peerage technically belonged to them or to him didn't really change much.
Honestly, Rias had even started thinking about fusing a Divine Envoy piece herself.
She was already an Upper-class Demon—climbing higher from there was brutally hard.
Watching Yubelluna jump in strength so violently that she basically surged past her? Rias was jealous in a way that hit the soul.
She just wasn't about to say that out loud in front of everyone.
Her eyes went soft and hot as she stared at Takumi's back, already thinking about whispering dirty things in his ear later.
Then her expression twitched, and she swallowed.
"…Though lately, I'm not sure I can… handle it."
Rias' craving was real—so was her fear.
Last time he worked her over, she'd seriously felt like she might get wrecked.
Just making the trip here had already taken everything she had.
Even a small shift of her hips sent a hot, stinging soreness through her—an aching, itchy burn that wasn't exactly pain… but definitely wasn't comfortable either.
Right now, Rias wasn't daring to poke the beast.
Takumi, oblivious to the exact battlefield happening in her head, turned back to the actual battle.
He began selecting the peerage members for this Rating Game.
The girls in front of him varied in strength—but even the weakest among them were Mid-class Demons.
Still, if they were going to fight, Takumi was sending elite.
"Perfect timing," he muttered. "Setsuna and Freya's crew can finally make their debut."
With a wave of his hand, he summoned five women into the room: Setsuna, Freya, Kureha, Eve, and Lapis.
Then he introduced them calmly, like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"They're all my peerage. Get to know each other."
"…Huh?!"
Rias and Sona both opened their eyes wide, genuinely surprised.
They hadn't expected Takumi to already have a sizable peerage operating in the shadows.
Then again—he could literally manufacture his own custom pieces.
Having an established core team was the obvious conclusion.
Yubelluna and the other newcomers immediately straightened, their posture respectful to the point of reverence.
Once Freya and Setsuna learned the situation, their eyes lit up—itching for action.
"Takumi-sama, Freya will give everything!"
"Setsuna will crush them so hard they won't even recognize the battlefield!"
Not a shred of fear. All aggression. All confidence. That was exactly what Takumi wanted.
"Queen: Eve. Rooks: Setsuna and Lapis. Bishops: Yubelluna and Freya. Knights: Kureha and Siris. Pawns: the nekomata sisters Ni and Li; the chainsaw sisters Ile and Nel; Xuelan; Isabela; Karlamine; Mira."
He did a full roll call—assigning each piece's role cleanly and decisively.
"All right," Serafall said, clapping her hands. "Looks like you're ready. Time's about right—everyone, to the cube teleportation circle."
They stepped into the formation together.
Light flared, wrapped around them, and the transfer began.
In the next instant, Takumi's group arrived in a different-dimensional battlefield—an almost perfect copy of Kuoh Academy.
Then the broadcast came on.
"Everyone, I am Grayfia Lucifugus, Head of House Lucifugus. For this Rating Game between House Phenex and House Morax, I will serve as referee."
Takumi's eyes narrowed slightly.
Grayfia being the referee was unexpected.
With Rias' brother no longer in the picture, Grayfia had inherited the position of Head of House Lucifugus—and with strength that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Serafall's, she was infamous in the Underworld as the Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation, one of the last women anyone wanted to provoke.
The Phenex Clan had almost certainly requested her.
Grayfia continued, her voice cool and absolute.
"I will oversee this battle. Thank you in advance for your cooperation. Now, we will proceed. The battlefield is a replica of the human world school 'Kuoh Academy.' Both factions are currently located at their respective headquarters."
"Takumi-sama's headquarters is the Occult Research Club room in the old school building. Riser-sama's headquarters is the Student Council room in the new school building."
"Per the agreed rules, neither King may participate. Victory is achieved if one side's pieces either occupy the opponent's headquarters for ten minutes, or defeat all opposing pieces."
"Additionally, this game's time limit is until dawn in the human world. With that, the Rating Game begins."
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
The school bell rang—and the Rating Game officially started.
In the Student Council room of the new school building, Riser sat at his base, his face twisted with a desperate hunger for payback.
He wasn't Takumi's match in direct combat.
But if he could reclaim his pride through the Rating Game, then at least he wouldn't look like a complete joke.
To secure a win, he'd forced the schedule—trying to hit Takumi before he could recruit properly.
And using House Phenex's connections, he'd also pulled in a lineup of demon servants with unusually strong combat ability…