Part 3
And so, it was now the day of the game. The place that we were going to was in the Underworld — the new stadium that was built in the Fallen Angels’ territory for the tournament. There was already a swarm of people within. The name of the stadium was ‘Azazel Stadium’, and a bronze statue of Azazel-sensei had also been erected at the entrance. And right in the centre of the stadium were — the two teams who stood within the field. The opposing team’s [King] was Barakiel-san, and their [Queen] was also a Cadre of the Grigori—. “Griiiiigoriiiiiiiiiii! Long time no see, Oppai Dragoooon—! Guhahahahaha!”
This unique manner of speech belonged to the Cadre of special effects, Armaros-san! I never imagined that this person would participate in the tournament, and as a member of Barakiel-san’s team as well! Although the other members were not Cadres, they were all high-ranking Fallen Angels who had survived a countless number of fierce battles. Just like us, the [Lightning] team had not suffered any losses so far. During the period when both teams stared off at each other, the announcer and guest commentator began their explanations over the microphone. [Today’s match is the centre of attention, the highly anticipated [Sekiryuutei of the Blazing Truth] team versus the [Lightning] team! Both teams are powerful competing teams from the Three Factions, and everyone is simply holding their breath to see what will unfold in this match! Our guest commentator is from the Devils’ side, Princess Rias Gremory’s father! Well then, Gremory-kyo , thank you very much for being with us today.] I didn’t expect that the guest commentator would actually be Rias’ otou-san! Moreover, today was also our match against Akeno-san’s otou-san, Barakiel-san; it seems like fathers are present wherever we go today! [No no, it is my pleasure, thank you for having me. From a personal perspective, I do want to cheer for my daughter’s fiancé, Hyoudou Issei-kun, but I will provide a serious commentary for everyone today.] Rias’ father politely greeted the audience. Say, he actually said ‘fiancé’ during that commotion!? Did he already hear about the oath that I made to Rias about our future, or was that something he just said in the spur of the moment!? The announcer began to explain today’s rules. [The format of this match is [Object Break]! The team which destroys the most target objects in the game field within the time limit wins! Also, as with the previous rules, the entire field will be divided into different areas, just like a chessboard.] A chessboard-like area appeared on the enormous display screen. As soon as the match starts, we will be transported into the dedicated battlefield, and begin our fight there. We will not actually be fighting inside this stadium. The field was tremendously vast, and even if a Devil had to fly from one side straight to the other at full speed, it would take nearly thirty minutes. But depending on my position and situation on the field, I could fly from one end of the field to the other in a matter of minutes? The announcer continued to explain the rules
[A total of thirteen [objects] have been prepared within the game field! As long as one team finds and destroys more [objects] than the other team within the twelve hour time limit, they will be declared the winner! Of course, and needless to say, the other rules of this tournament are still in effect, so defeating the other team’s [King] also results in a victory.] I had heard about the rules for counting the number of destroyed [objects] beforehand. [Going by a simple calculation, as long as either side destroys more than half of the [objects], in other words, the first team to destroy seven [objects] will be declared the winner, and the game will end there.] …Although fighting was also important, finding and destroying the [objects] was the top priority. [Some of the prepared [objects] have been placed in the field in their original state, whilst some are in less noticeable positions, and some possibly even hidden in obscure places. The two teams will have to race through this broad field, and whilst the players are fighting each other, they must also find these [objects] and destroy them.] Now then, I wonder where these things are hidden…. Supposedly, the shape of these [objects] will be revealed to us at the beginning of the game. [In addition, if the twelve hour time limit is exceeded, and both teams have destroyed the same number of [objects], the match will be determined to be a draw.] It’s possible for a draw huh. But, all that lay on my mind was the thought of victory. [There have been similar matches in the Rating Games of the Underworld in the past; even when a lower ranked team with a large power gap between a higher ranked team are set against each other, lower ranked teams have been able destroy an equal number of items to the other team, and then engage in a defensive battle until time runs out to successfully draw a tie. This subversion of expectations and the plethora of limitless possibilities is one of the charms of this game.] …In terms of strength, the outside world may have always believed that we were more dominant, but according to these rules, we also had the possibility of facing defeat. Rias’ otou-san said
[In other words, it is sometimes the case that neither of the two teams can find all of the [objects] within the allocated time limit.] [Well, nominally speaking, because the [objects] are placed randomly, there may be rare situations in which they cannot be found. This would result in an unexpected scenario, and some teams may give up on searching, and choose instead to defeat the opposing team. Of course, if the [objects] in a field can be easily located, it is more likely that we will see an early destruction of the [objects] rather than an attempt to defeat the opposing team.] In other words, if the game progressed into the latter half, we may as well switch our strategy to defeat the opposing team, rather than continue to search for these [objects]. [One point to add is that after an [object] is destroyed, special rules will apply to the area in which it appeared. The [King] of each team cannot enter that area. In other words, as the game progresses, and as [objects] continue to be destroyed, the areas in which a [King] can move around in are gradually reduced. How the two teams will consider and integrate this into their strategy as they move is also one of the highlights of this game.] [This means that as the battle continues, the [King] will be left with nowhere to escape to at the end.] —In this way, the announcer and Rias’ otou-san thoroughly explained the rules of the game in detail. …The last rule meant that the [King] would not be able to enter an area where an [object] had been destroyed, which was going to be troublesome.