Xenovia, the Chinese qipao girl, retracted her fist, frowning slightly as she looked at the cat-eared loli. "You are strong indeed, but letting your mind wander during a fight is a huge mistake."
"Apologies. My fault."
The white-haired loli replied seriously, "Koneko is truly sorry. To show my apology, I will not hold back anymore."
Although Riser and Rias had a wager, there was no deep-seated enmity between their Servants; they were simply fighting for their respective masters.
Except for Yuma Amano and the two other former Fallen Angels, no one intended to kill their opponents right from the start.
Since the battle began, Koneko Toujou had not used her full power, maintaining a level comparable to her opponents.
Xenovia, skilled in martial arts, combined with the characteristics of the Rook piece, possessed slightly superior combat techniques compared to Koneko.
Koneko's Nekomata heritage granted the white-haired loli superior speed and strength, but Xenovia had Isabella assisting her.
The three of them had been locked in a fierce, drawn-out battle.
During their usual training, everyone also restrained their strength to a comparable level to hone their techniques.
Koneko Toujou had originally intended to fight for longer to refine her combat skills, but since the battles on the other two fronts ended so quickly, she couldn't afford to keep holding back.
Xenovia and Isabella's expressions immediately became serious. The gap in power was much easier to sense in close-quarters combat.
They knew Koneko Toujou hadn't been using her full strength, but when she got serious, the terrifying pressure emanating from her slender, delicate body still stunned them.
When combat techniques were similar, whoever possessed greater strength, speed, and durability completely dominated close-quarters combat.
Unleashing her full S-Class strength, Koneko Toujou's speed became too fast for Xenovia and Isabella to react to.
Xenovia could still rely on her extensive martial arts experience and instincts to predict and defend, struggling to withstand the powerful Cat Punches.
Isabella, wearing a half-mask, was reduced to passively taking blows.
She only saw a flash of silver-white figure before her back, chin, and abdomen were consecutively struck by a colossal impact force.
The spirited girl in a jacket and jeans was propelled forward uncontrollably, but before she could adjust her posture to absorb the force, a shockwave hit her chin again.
Her mind went blank, her feet involuntarily left the ground, and she floated backward.
"Ugh..."
Isabella's mouth opened slightly, letting out a painful moan in mid-air, the visible half of her pretty face scrunched up in agony.
"Boom!"
The woman of few words, Koneko Toujou, gave a slight push on the floor, leaving two shattered indentations in the gymnasium's wooden floor. A knee strike utterly defeated Isabella.
With Isabella down, Xenovia found defending alone even more challenging.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Two slender, alluring, yet power-filled bodies constantly collided. Each contact produced a sonic boom, and circles of air pressure continuously spread outwards from the intersection points.
Fists, feet, elbows, palms...
Blocking, deflecting, neutralizing force, dodging...
The Chinese qipao girl gave her absolute maximum effort. Under the immense pressure, she felt as if she was vaguely glimpsing the threshold of S-Class.
Xenovia tried to hold out for a little longer. She didn't expect to break through during the fight, but every extra second of this realization would increase her chances of breaking through the bottleneck later.
Unfortunately, against absolute strength and speed, her defense only lasted for less than three minutes before it was completely dismantled.
Even though it was only three minutes, the two had exchanged blows no less than a hundred times, moving too fast for the average person's eyes to follow.
"Who exactly are you? How can you be so strong..."
Xenovia looked at her constantly trembling, completely unusable arms, utterly shocked.
It wasn't just her arms; she felt like her entire body no longer belonged to her. Just standing upright had drained all her strength.
Akeno Himejima had the title Lightning Miko, Yuuto Kiba had Demon Sword Creation, and Asia was the Mother's Smile.
As for Ethan and the three Fallen Angels, there was no need to mention them, as no one in the Underworld was unaware of them due to Azazel.
Only Koneko Toujou was relatively unknown.
Yet, this girl, who seemed to lack presence, had beaten her until she was utterly unable to fight back.
The white-haired loli dropped her combat stance, her cute little face still devoid of expression.
"I am merely the Peerage of the President."
Xenovia gave her a long, hard look, finally letting out a sigh. "I surrender."
[Lord Riser's Rooks, two members, retired.]
"Ah, Koneko, you did resolve it! I actually thought the opponent was that strong."
Mitelut, who had rushed to the indoor gymnasium, happened to witness Xenovia's surrender and grumbled discontentedly.
"Honestly, you made me run all the way here for nothing. I should have just gone to watch Lady Yuma's battle."
The white-haired loli ignored the loud Mitelut. She brushed the dust off her uniform and walked towards the courtyard on her own.
"Ah, Koneko, wait for me! Honestly..."
After watching the two leave, Xenovia finally couldn't hold on any longer. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
Less than an hour into the match, the battle was nearing its end.
As Yuuto Kiba and the others returned to the courtyard, the fighting there also finally drew to a close.
Thanks to Akeno Himejima's reminder, Yuma Amano did not toy with her enemies.
Although she was the last to start fighting, she defeated the Bishop Mina and the Knights Koram and Siris almost simultaneously with Koneko's defeat of Xenovia and Isabella.
[Lord Riser's Bishop, one member, and Knights, two members, incapacitated.]
Grayfia's mature, sexy voice echoed through the combat space, but by now, neither the spectators watching the broadcast nor the fighters within the space were paying much attention.
In less than twenty minutes, similar notifications had sounded continuously, making it difficult to maintain interest.
"Impossible! How can this be!"
Unlike those who were physically present to witness the fighting, Riser in the Headmaster's office refused to accept reality.
He had been planning to quickly crush the opponent, never imagining that his own side would be crushed, and that he hadn't even managed to take down a single opponent from the other side.
Even with his confidence, he hadn't expected to resolve the fight against the opponent's six Servants without losing a single person.
But now, the opponents had not only won 6-to-14, but not a single one had retired. How could Riser accept this?
Fortunately, his rationality was still intact; he didn't angrily accuse the Gremory family of favoritism.
Most of the important figures in the Phenex family were watching this broadcast. If there were any issues, they wouldn't need to wait for him to point them out.
Therefore, no matter how unbelievable, Riser had to accept the fact that his Servants were no match for Rias's Servants.
Now, only the non-combatant Ravel and Yubelluna remained. He decided to personally go and see what was happening.
He felt he hadn't lost yet. With his and Ravel's Phenex bloodline, plus the two drops of Phenex Tears on Yubelluna, the three of them could at least drag the match out until victory.
Even if they couldn't win, a forced stop to the match would suffice.
Sona Shitori now moved Riser's screen to the center, even giving him a close-up shot until he anxiously left the Headmaster's office.
In the courtyard, Akeno Himejima, her face flushed, excitedly gazed at Yubelluna, who was in her second state of recovery.
"This must be the last drop, right? What a pity. It seems we can only play until here today."
The Bomb Queen, whose purple robes were almost shredded, exposing large expanses of pale skin, looked warily at the pristine, sacred vestment worn by Akeno Himejima.
The Phenex Tear, a secret treasure of the Phenex family, could instantly restore all injuries, including depleted magic power.
Crucially, this item was permissible in a Rating Game. Although limited to two drops per match, it was still an invaluable treasure.
While not overly precious to the Phenex family, it could fetch a sky-high price if sold externally.
In addition to the Phenex family's inherent advantage in Rating Games, the Phenex Tear was the second reason for their rapid development.
"You've become an Ultimate-Class Devil... haven't you?"
Yubelluna's purplish-red hair covered her right eye, adding a mysterious charm to her sexy, seductive face.
Coupled with her tall, fiery figure, she was undeniably a beauty.
Riser's character might not be great, but his eye for women wasn't bad.
His Servants were, if not one-in-a-million beauties, almost all high-tier, only slightly inferior to the main heroines like Rias and Mio Naruse.
As Queens of the younger generation, both with titles, Akeno Himejima and Yubelluna had always been rivals.
To be precise, the Lightning Miko had always slightly overshadowed the Bomb Queen. Thus, Yubelluna had always hoped to face Akeno Himejima head-on and defeat her.