On the other side of the thin barrier, Barakiel-san said to me
“Hyoudou Issei-kun, the Rating Games will bring a variety of challenges. If you wish to lead your team to participate in professional games in the future, remember that there are sometimes situations in which power alone is useless.”
Barakiel-san then looked back as he prepared to retreat towards the rear. “Now then, I have to support my teammates. You stay there and work out what to do with your teammates.”
After saying that, Barakiel-san waved his feathered wings and flew off. Because of the barrier, I had no way of getting to the other side! At that time, Ravel’s spoke to me. “Ise-sama! What’s going on! ?”
“I’m sorry, Ravel, I was fighting in a corner of the field…and then I was trapped in by [Imprisonment].”
After I concisely explained the situation, Ravel immediately gave me a good idea. “—Hmm. …There’s a way to fix this. Ise-sama, do you know about the chess rule where only a [King] can change locations? Remember when you were present during the peace talks between the Three Factions and it was done.”
During the peace talks…change positions…. Ah! The one that was used to rescue Gasper! ““—Castling!””
Ravel and I said it together at the same time! Aha! I have seen it once! In order to rescue Gasper who was left behind in the old school building when the [Khaos Brigade] first attacked us, Rias used her unused [Rook] piece in the club activities room to transport herself into the old school building via ‘castling’. Right now, it should be possible to make use of that! Ravel continued
“Yes, it’s just as you say. Swap places with Rossweisse-sama. According to the rules, ‘castling’ can be performed once as long as the [King] is not in a ‘checkmate’ situation. You will be able to perform ‘castling’ once with Rossweisse-sama. In that case, Ise-sama will be free to move, and since Rossweisse-sama isn’t a [King], even if she swaps places with you, she can still enter the modified areas.”
Ravel had also included Rossweisse-san in the plan. Really, having Ravel by our side is truly encouraging! She immediately came up with a solution! No, this is something that I originally should have thought of! Perhaps this is what Barakiel-san was trying to lead me towards. This is also related to my worth as a [King] in the future. It was not long before word from Ravel came again. “I have already contacted Rossweisse-sama about this, so please immediately begin preparations for ‘castling’!”
“Alright! Castling!”
I called the name of the move as I though of the Evil Piece in my chest. And then — I was surrounded by the light of teleportation. The next instant, I was above the lake! It seems as though I really did change positions with Rossweisse-san! “Awesome, it worked!”
I rejoiced! Next, as long as my [Rook] Rossweisse-san passes through the area that a [King] cannot enter and returns here, there won’t be any problems! However, Ravel’s voice had a tone of surprise when she contacted me again. “How could this be…!”
“What is it, Ravel?”
“The place that Rossweisse-sama transferred to — is the same place that Ise-sama was in, but there’s a new opponent! It seems like it was an ambush!”
“—What!”
Ambush!? C-Could it be that after the [objects] were destroyed, one person stayed behind on that side, lying in wait for Rossweisse-san who would go there by ‘castling’!? And the instant that I heard the name of the ambusher, I was stunned! “…It’s the Fallen Angel Cadre Armaros-sama!”
—What! The ambusher was actually the Cadre of special effects, Armaros! Ravel exclaimed in regret. “The opponent is an anti-magic specialist! For a magic use like Rossweisse-sama, he is the worst possible opponent! …I see, this is what they were aiming for! Trapping Ise-sama was just a feint! Their real goal was—”
Rossweisse-san…! We gave the task of analysing the [object] to Rossweisse-san—. Did they also predict that…! Ravel continued
“…In a game with special rules, magic users who are able to wield a variety of magic are valued. Especially Rossweisse-sama who is using magic to locate the [objects], she is particularly important to us. …I never expected that our opponent had even predicted this and even made preparations for it…!”
…The ultimate aim of Barakiel-san, who had trapped me there, was to ambush Rossweisse-san…. We’ve really been deceived at every single turn…! “…Rossweisse-san is trapped, and I can’t use ‘castling’ again either. But the game still goes on…. I see, so this is a Rating Game huh. Compared to participating as a [Pawn], it really is much tougher as a [King]—”
~~~~Arghh! I couldn’t say a thing as an expression of anguish coloured my face. Gnashing my teeth and tightly clenching my fist, I endured my sense of regret. If I didn’t do that, I would probably roar at the top of my lungs. Daammmnnn itttt! This feeling of regret was completely different! …Rias…so this is what you felt like. Because I didn’t think things through, Rossweisse-san was now pinned down there. I was unable to use my team members flexibly, and I was even strung along by the opponents’ tactics every step of the way! This feeling of regret that I felt was different from what I felt as a [Pawn], and the pressure of it felt even heavier because of my responsibility! It’s frustrating, it’s truly frustrating! Ravel said
“…I think there is more than one member of the opponent’s team who is specialised in searching, there should be two of them. After all, researchers do account for the majority of the Grigori. Being able to find five of the [objects] in less than half of the allocated time limit is the best evidence of that.”
…After all, it is the organisation that Azazel-sensei commanded. The number of Fallen Angel researchers is truly horrifying. In order to deal with a variety of Rating Games, a variety of people were elected for the team. Ravel continued her speculation
“Most likely, in order to find [objects] as soon as possible, they prepared many different strategies. They must have also entered our territory. Since we haven’t found many [objects] on our side, our opponents must have been searching for objects on our side whilst they engaged in combat with us.”
…In other words, the time left for us was running out. Our searching magic has been sealed off, whilst the opponent’s searchers are still active. After a while, the [objects] that are on our side will be taken away, and they will be destroyed, leading to our defeat. Our opponent just needs to find and destroy two more [objects] to become victorious in this game—. Part 5
After Hyoudou Issei used ‘castling’ to perform a swap of his own position with Rossweisse, appearing before Rossweisse was the [Lightning] team’s [Queen], the Grigori Cadre Armaros. “Gwahahahaha! I remember how you used to be a Valkyrie! You’re also good at magic, but I won’t be allowing you to pull any tricks!”
The person who stood in front of Rossweisse was a Fallen Angel Cadre who wore armour, a cloak, and was armed with an axe and a shield.