DxD: The Sorcery System Chapter 47

Chapter 47: The Rating Game (3/3)


"Trapped, huh?" I glanced around, the rubble from the explosion still settling, and the announcement of Koneko and Kiba’s elimination echoing in my ears.


"Riser wanted to deal with you personally," the madman’s laugh, referring to himself in the third person, grated on my nerves. "Riser hasn’t forgotten the trash you spewed. Riser remembers."


A flicker of nerves passed through me—not from facing Riser—but from the fact that I was now a point of interest for many. Almost everyone watching had their eyes on Riser and me, while also keeping tabs on Rias’ side, which was another concern weighing on my mind.


Until my fight with Riser ends, I hope she can hold her ground without being forced to resign.


"Riser has been waiting for this day," the blonde lunatic giggled, his sadistic expression all too clear. "To rip that pride right off your face."


{Class: High-Class Devil}


He was still a High-Class devil, with a threat level far higher than Rias despite their similar class.


"Oh, Riser has waited so long!" Golden flames burst forth, swirling around his hand, fully engulfing it without burning his flesh.


He extended his hand toward me, grinning like a madman. "The fault is all yours."


With that, I saw the golden flames hurtling toward me, swirling with an intense heat that I could feel from meters away. The power of the fire was greater than any elemental magic I had faced before.


Yes, it was stronger than Akeno’s lightning, and the only thing comparable was the destructive power Rias wields. Not the same concept, but the same intensity.


And no way in hell was I going to tank that hit.


<<Hydro Pump>>


I wasn’t stupid enough to use a barrier against a flame-based attack. The risk of the flames bouncing and spreading was ridiculously high.


Instead, I unleashed a massive stream of water from my palm—shooting it directly into the flames.


And damn.


"Huh?" He looked on, amused. "So, you do have some abilities."


Any normal Low-Class Devil or Fallen would have been blown away by that water-based attack. I knew how strong my elemental magic was—the memory of burnt Fallens was still fresh.


But this time?


Both fire and water clashed, vaporizing each other. The speed of the water didn’t matter, nor did the slower movement of the flames. The sheer heat of the fire neutralized the water, turning it into steam.


Phenex fire was no joke.


He frowned, displeased that his magic had been countered so easily.


"But a human can never win against a devil!" he scoffed, the flames around him flaring up, burning with an even greater fury.


I couldn’t take him down in one shot.


He was tricky.


But I had a quest to humiliate him, and I wasn’t going to fail.


Element against element.


No matter how tired I got.


I was going to extinguish his flame.


"Rias and Akeno will lose in minutes," he chortled, "and those minutes will be enough for me to ruin you."


Demonic power surged around us, raising the temperature to unbearable levels.


"Phenex children are born with fire, grow up with fire." He advanced, his body quivering with anger as I continued to extinguish his flames with water. "When a Phenex learns the depth of fire, they earn the right to cast its hottest form."


His voice grew coarse, the moisture evaporating from the surroundings and from within his own throat.


"Phenex fire evolves, becoming more cruel and fiendish," he growled as his fire turned red, blackening the marble beneath his feet. "It turns hellish."


{Warning! Opponent’s body is overexerting magic!}


It was.


I could see it.


His clothes couldn’t handle it, burning away from his arms and feet. His boots melted, sticking to the marble.


"It’s a flame from the time of the original Lucifer," he scoffed, "a time you couldn’t even fathom."


{Magic is harming the caster as well.}


No shit.


The skin of his hands and legs was melting and then instantly healing.


This was the insane ability of a Phenex.


Fire hotter than any other, and a healing factor that made him practically immortal.


He extended his palm toward me, gathering the flames around his hands and feet—fire so red it turned black.


"Behold," he hissed, "a fire that will end your worthless bloodline, your very existence, for insulting the name of Riser Phenex."


This absolute psychopath.


He was trying to kill me!


“Hellfire: Purgatory’s Judgment”


{Warning! Opponent’s Hellfire is abnormal and forceful! Reo is advised to dodge!}


This fucker…


He was so petty, so insane, that he was torturing his own body just to hurt and humiliate me.


I could see him biting his lip. The pain from his burning flesh was unbearable, and if not for his pettiness—he would have fainted from the pain alone.


And this was bad for me.


No matter what they said or promised, I was still a nameless human to them, with unchecked power and magic that worried them.


My death wouldn’t mean shit to them!


I couldn’t dodge it. The radius was too big, and the speed was too fast.


I just couldn’t dodge it in time.


System, can Barrier Magic contain this flame?


I asked about the very same magic I had dismissed as stupid to use against flames.


"Die!"


But I had no other choice.


{Not advisable.}


The system warned me, but I had no fucking choice.


This insane devil had damaged his body and exhausted nearly all his energy to launch one magical attack.


Nothing else could be done.


No water was going to extinguish those hellish flames.


Barrier Magic.


What could I do with it?


It was the only magic I had at an advanced level that could defend against magic.


It had to work.


They say a human’s imagination is endless, that a human with magic and imagination is unstoppable, that magic born of imagination is the strongest form of magic.


And now was the time to test it out.


It had to work.


"Barrier Magic." My voice echoed.


I could feel my magic circulating from my body and from the surroundings.


I was pushing myself to the absolute limit for this.


I could feel the magic changing color, shape, and composition.


Changing from a pure element to pure energy, swirling around me, forming a barrier that turned black instead of purple.


{Warning!}


Shut up, system.


{Failsafe activated!}


{Temporarily delimited Reo!}


{Barrier Magic set to Divine Level!}


Rotate it, swirl it, strengthen it, compress it.


Magic flowed around me, turning from purple to black.


And soon, a pitch-black vortex formed—a vortex of magic, a barrier swirling faster than I could control.


System, register this spell as—


{Warning! Cannot register chant! Spell only possible because of delimiting Reo!}


Ah, doesn’t matter.


{System actively expanding to protect Reo from Hellfire!}


The system was helping me cast this spell.


I don’t think I’ll be able to cast it again anytime soon.


But as I felt my fingers burning from the heat generated by the rotating barrier, and the magic depleting from and around me at a terrifying rate—my voice whispered without my control.


Almost instinctively.


"Barrier Magic: Bhairava’s Cleansing!"


And that’s when I saw the impossible.


{Limiter Re-established!}


{Barrier Magic readjusted to Advanced Level!}


I saw a mouth, a pitch-black mouth that formed and advanced to swallow the hellfire whole—consuming the fire, the heat, the matter, everything in its path.


It devoured it completely.


Not even the devil in front of me was spared.


"Ahhhhhhh!"


The devil, who couldn’t even be burned by the flames of hell—had his hand chewed off.


Unable to heal.


Causing his cries to fill the entire place as the armless devil writhed in agony.


A scene that haunted even me.


…

…


[Rating Game Arena, Gremory Estate, Underworld]


{Ruval Phenex}


"RISER!" Father's roar echoed around us, filled with fury and horror at the sight before us.


“T-That—” Even my voice faltered, my heart pounding and breath unsteady.


We all felt it—the magic. 


The magic my father unleashed in his rage was nothing compared to the terrifying force that flashed before us for a split second.


"Stop the match!" Father shouted, "Stop it NOW!"


Everyone was too stunned to react, except for Father, who had lost his composure at the sight of armless Riser writhing on the ground, crying out in pain, unable to regenerate his devoured arm.


“He used forbidden magic!” Father's voice pierced through the silence, "He used dark magic worse than anything we Devils possess!"


I... I felt it too.


That magic was terrifying.


It appeared for only a split second as that dreadful mouth formed and then vanished just as quickly.


But it wasn't normal magic.


It wasn't human, devil, or angelic magic.


It was pure terror.


"Grayfia." As everyone struggled to comprehend what had happened, Lord Lucifer’s voice echoed behind us. "Declare the end of this match. Riser cannot continue."


All eyes turned to my brother, howling in pain, and then to the human standing nearby, weakened and shaken.


"Riser has lost."


No one could deny Lord Lucifer's words.


For my father and me, the outcome didn’t matter.


Seeing Riser writhing in pain, missing an arm, and crying for help, all we wanted was to reach him.


"Y-Yes."


Even the ice-cold queen was shaken by the sight, but she managed to announce:


“The Rating Game between Riser Phenex and Rias Gremory has concluded.” Her voice quivered, but she slowly regained control. “And the victor is—”


All eyes fixed on one boy.


We looked at him with anger, confusion, worry, and horror.


“REO TAKEDA!”


Emotions overwhelmed the announcer, forcing her to name the boy instead of the Gremory Heiress.


____________________________________________________________________________________


[A/N: For a split second, we have seen the true level (kind of) of Reo’s system and how terrifying it can be without any limit as it protected him.


And I believe you must have figured out the origin of his system and which mythology it is exactly linked to. This is only the beginning, Riser is just an ant compared to all the stronger characters from all mythologies, heavenly dragons and the ones beyond that are supposed to come. So many mysteries to cover and so many mythologies to explore!


Also if not for Riser losing control and using that magic, we could have defeated him with rather ease. Like take out the air from his lungs, make him swallow water and have it explode or expand within him. Or even have a spherical barrier form inside him and expanded like Invisible Women did against the Sentinels in Marvel comics. But here he had to worry about defending himself too and those would not have protected him from the abnormal Hellfire.


P.S. Handling the aftermath of this game + the politics of it is going to be a bitch.


P.S.S Bhairava means "terribly fearsome form". It is also known as one who destroys fear or one who is beyond fear. He restores order and peace by slaying any and all evil. Plus he also goes around with dogs.




Kaal Bhairava 



 ]