DxD: The Tale of Blood

The spectators loved the battle that they were lucky enough to witness live.

Team Renly tried their best, used every trick they had up their sleeves, and gave it their all, but they were just no match for the berserk Dragoness.

Erza with her scarlet draconic wings, the tall armoured stature, and the beautiful tiara on her head was just majestic, and everything about her oozed madness. She was a sight to behold, and her battle excited the blood of all the warriors who were grateful to be present there today.

Even the Valkyries in the audience were in awe of her, and this was because Erza did not fight for the show. She fought because she loved fighting. She fought because it was the most fun activity for her in her life.

All the dissatisfaction that Moka and Ban had in their hearts was relieved when they watched their Scarlet utterly destroy her four opponents. All by her sheer strength.

When the Knight fell, the Pawns soon followed him, and she stood between their bodies, resting her hands on the pommel of her sword.

Her draconic wings flapped in a challenge, swaying the bodies of her opponents, urging them to stand up, but they did not dare.

They were not masochistic enough to stand up for another beating.

The Judges soon lit up the Green Light, which meant that the round was over.

"Erza Scarlet wins the second round for Team Morningstar!" Naud announced the result, and the crowd loudly cheered for their War Maiden, a title that Naud cleverly bestowed her, rousing the interest of the Valkyries in the audience.

Raizel grinned at his Drgaoness when she walked back to the Grid, and she matched it with her own.

The Team congratulated her and complimented her on her flawless and thrilling victory, and she just nodded her head and smiled.

Soon a thirty-second countdown started, and Cleria intently looked at the Opponents' Grid.

"Renly will enter the battle. He has to. It's only Round 3 and Round 4 that he can participate in," Ban spoke, and the Belial Princess nodded her head.

"Freya?" She turned to look at the Heiress of Lucifuge Clan.

"Guts and either Moka or Ban. They will be enough."

"Fine. Guts will pair up with Ban. They are already a team."

"Aye aye..." The Demon of Greed smirked and walked forward, and Guts followed him. "We are not losing to him, are we?"

The Demi-God smirked at his words and drew his Dragon Slayer from his back.

As expected, it was Renly who entered the battle, and his expressions were very serious.

He did not underestimate the Knight and Pawn in front of him, and he fully realised that if he lost this round, the match was over.

The Barrier activated again, the red light flashed, and Guts' armour started oozing darkness and a malevolent Aura.

Ban immediately moved several paces away from his companion, who created a Summoning Circle and summoned his giant Cerberus.

"Guts has summoned his Familiar! The Judges have deemed it a Top-Tier, Rare-Class Familiar, and it can only stay in the battle for two minutes." Naud announced the decision of the Judges, and as soon as his words finished, a countdown started.

And the battle commenced.

The Son of Herakles rushed forward at a speed that was no slower than what Erza had displayed earlier, and he left destruction in his wake.

Renly used his Devil Magic to create a mirage and laid hundreds of traps on the ground, and at the same time, created a Stag made out of Demonic Power, which rushed at the Berserker and clashed with him.

*Doommm*

A loud explosion occurred, dust and debris rose, and Ban, who had sneaked behind Renly, realised that the Vassago Heir was no longer there.

He felt chills run up his spine when the ground under his feet erupted and a giant worm of Demonic Energy swallowed him.

The overwhelming power rushed at him, intending to rip him apart, and the pain that assaulted him made him scream.

His magenta eyes glowed as he used his Snatch to steal the Demonic Power, and soon managed to disperse the Worm, however, when he came out, he received a kick on his head that rattled his brains.

A loud clank of metal was heard when Guts suddenly appeared by his Companion's side and blocked the spear that was thrown at him.

Together with his Familiar, who was able to distinguish between reality and mirage, he attacked Renly again, but the Vassago could peek into the future, and he managed to evade all his attempts to catch him.

Ban, who soon regained clarity, was just planning on joining the battle again when another worm came out of the ground and swallowed him.

"Fuck you!!!" He screamed before he hastily used his earlier method, and again, when he managed to escape, he received a kick on the back of his head.

Guts managed to come to his rescue again in time, and then continued chasing after Renly, who was wisely avoiding a physical clash with him.

However, he had to pull back suddenly to dismiss the Cerberus as the countdown was about to run out.

His heart thumped against his chest when he suddenly heard a body fall behind him, and when he turned around, Ban was lying unconscious on the ground with a strange and beautiful fluffy creature standing on top of his chest.

"Renly Vassago has summoned his Familiar, Dream Ailurus or what is commonly known as the Dream Whispering Panda Dog. It has been deemed a Top-Tier, Normal-Class Familiar. The Judges have given it four minutes to stay on the field..."

Naud's words had not even finished when Renly dismissed his Familiar from the field.

The Job was done, and Ban was not going to wake up for, at least, a day now.

On the screens, over the Demon's image, a countdown was underway. He had two minutes to wake up, and if he failed, he would be out of the round.

Renly, however, did not intend to wait for the countdown as he created another Demonic Worm which swallowed Ban, but Guts rushed to his side and prevented him from getting hurt.

Making a conscious decision, the Knight signalled to the Judges to disqualify his companion, and since he held a Higher-Valued Evil Piece, allowing him to make such a decision, the request was granted.

Guts stood guard and stared at Renly as Ban's body started shining and then disappeared from the Arena.

Now, only he and the Vassago remained on the battlefield, and he had no intentions of letting the Devil before him win.

The Foresight was truly a pain, especially since Renly was very fast and also very intelligent.

However...

Suddenly, the space around Guts started to show signs of cracking, and his Demonic Power went rampant.

His whole body was clad in a malevolent Aura, and only his eyes were visible now, exuding a malevolent red glow.

Renly started to act quickly when he saw the scene, and the Berserker rushed at him, at a speed that astounded people.

He hacked his massive Dragon Slayer in the air, unleashing a wave of destruction towards the enemy King, and people exclaimed when the attack was dodged and landed on the barrier behind, causing it to shake uncontrollably.

The audience turned very silent as they watched the two going all out, and the kneen ones observed that the Knight was slowly growing both faster and stronger as the battle continued.

Ajuka and the others soon figured out the reason behind this boost and curiously looked at the Massive Sword and the Armour, which allowed the Half-Devil to use his Demonic Power in such a clever manner.

And all of them wondered how long he could sustain this form.

Renly was clearly on guard, finding it hard to go on offence, but whenever he created the opportunity, he gave it his best shot.

Guts was struck by several powerful blows from the Vassago, but his defence could even put Rooks to shame.

He was just too strong to beat.

The battlefield turned to ruins, bearing the marks of devastation. There was no flat ground left to stand on, and if the Barrier had not been in place, the two would have destroyed the whole Colosseum.

"I surrender!"

Suddenly, to the shock of the audience, Renly Vassago raised his hand, and in an instant, his body blinked and he was teleported out of the Battlefield, on his Grid, narrowly escaping the devastating "Final Slash" from Guts that he had seen coming his way.

"Renly seems to have overused his Clan Trait and realised that he could not win this fight by forcing himself. A wise decision..." The Commentators spoke, letting the audience know why the King surrendered in the battle.

"Renly Vassago has surrendered! Team Renly has lost their King. Guts wins the Third Round, and Team Morningstar wins the Match by Submission!"

A loud round of cheers and applause followed the Announcement, and then Diehauser Belial, the Champion of the Rating Games, walked down the Royal Gallery to hand the Team Morningstar their Rating Games License.

Raizel smiled and shook hands with the man, and then accepted the Golden Medallion, which had their Team's name written on it, as well as the Symbol of House Darcaedes.

A few Devils, who were the Officials of the Rating Games, came to congratulate them as well, and Renly Vassago came over to shake hands too.

Afterwards, the Officials started restoring the Arena, which was as good as new within minutes, and ready for another match.

Team Morningstar followed Diehauser to the Royal Gallery, where the Lords and Ladies of Devildom, as well as the Asgardians, were seated.

"A Demi-God and a Half-Devil," Thor looked at Guts and could immediately guess his heritage.

"His father is Herakles, son of Zeus," Odin informed his sons, who looked at Guts in intrigue.

It was the same for the Devils who were unaware of this information, and some felt envious that the Darcaedes Prince had gotten his hands on such a valuable Servant.

"I prefer to be called the Son of Lorel. I have no love for that man." Guts calmly spoke, without any hint of agitation or anger.

His words prompted Thor to grin at him.

From behind him, and girl, seemingly in her late teens, with white-golden hair, and golden eyes, stepped forward and walked over to their Peerage.

She curiously glanced at all of them, greeted Raizel with a polite bow, and then drew her finger to Erza.

"I, Thrudr, Daughter of Thor and Siff, challenge you to a duel."

The Drgaoness cutely tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at the Half-Goddess.

Raizel and his Peerage sighed in their hearts as they knew what Erza's answer was going to be.

What would a Battle Maniac do when challenged like this?

However, before she could answer, the pressure of a certain presence descended on everyone in the Royal Gallery, except for Raizel, Albedo, and Hilda.

Thrudr's body froze when she suddenly felt a hand on her head, and when she raised her head and looked behind her, she froze.

Golden hair, filled with life, wavy and flowing, blue eyes which would put even the shine of sapphires to shame, and a tall and graceful stature.

Her beauty was so extreme that it even enthralled her, and it was the same for nearly everyone in the Lounge.

"My, my, you have even inherited the temper of my niece..." She charmingly smiled at the girl, who lowered her eyes as she started feeling insecure.

"Freyja."

Odin called out the name of the Goddess who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and only then did the people realise who she was.

"Oh, Old Man, I didn't even see you there," She smiled but still did not turn around to look at him.

Instead, she smiled at Raizel and the girl who had been named after her.

"You have grown up quite beautifully."

"Lady Freyja," Raizel bowed to her, and then stepped forward when she opened her arms to him.