[Of the [Lightning] team, one [Rook] and one [Bishop] have retired.] [Confirmation that the [Sekiryuutei] team has destroyed four [objects]. They have gained four points.] That cannon blast just now took out one a [Rook] and [Bishop] from our opponent’s side! That was a good result! If they were players who were searching for [objects], then it could be described as an even better result! I also destroyed four [objects]! Our numbers have increased almost instantaneously! This pushes our total up to five! Because we kept one more on our side that we haven’t yet destroyed, it’ll be a victory for us as long as we can find one more! Now then, I’ll go over our strategy. Although my Pseudo-Dragon Deification can utilise an incredible amount of power, it has a time limit. I can maintain the transformation for three minutes, but if I convert that to perform attacks or switch to defence, then the transformation time limit will be reduced. A cannon blast at maximum firepower — if I use ∞ Blaster, the time limit will be reduced even further. From the moment that the bombardment began, a ten second countdown also began, and once it reached zero, Pseudo-Dragon Deification was forcibly lifted. There is also a crucial problem after the transformation is undone. —My stamina and demonic energy is vastly depleted. During our training, because of different styles of fighting that had been used, there were situations where I wasn’t even able to maintain my normal armour. To put it simply, Pseudo-Dragon Deification is a final move that can only be used at a critical time, but it is also the strongest means of attack that our team has. Based on the above reasons, preparations were made for this plan at the beginning of this Rating Game. We first needed to make sure that I would be able to use Pseudo-Dragon Deification. However, it absolutely cannot be used when up against the other side’s [King]. To give a reason for that, it would be because we don’t know what kinds of tricks the other side has up their sleeve, so transforming and charging in recklessly could lead to my attacks being blocked, thus wasting an important means of offense. That being the case, it is necessary to find the right time to use it. After Ravel confirmed the rules for [Object Break], the gridded map was opened at the beginning of the game, and the plan was communicated to all members of the team—. “We need to investigate the [objects] that are in our territory first.”
Ravel used a pen to mark out the map. The field this time had half of a chessboard as our territory. A red circle was drawn to further divide our territory in half. That was a quarter of the field. “However, it would not be very efficient if we were to search every corner of our territory. Moreover, there is also a time limit, so we should only target one area. We only need to perform a thorough search of half of our territory. But, it’ll be bad if we allow the other side to discover our intentions, so we should still scatter all of the members of our team into the every region of our territory. And then, one group will perform a thorough search of half our territory.”
“But, what are we going to do about the exploration of the other half of our territory?”
Irina asked. Limiting our search of [objects] to one quarter of the field would perhaps make it much easier to find them, but the other areas will be left unexplored. “Indeed, if that’s the case, it’s impossible for us to win. Perhaps our opponent will take the lead when it comes to the number of [objects] destroyed. But once the game reaches its mid-phase, we’ll change our style immediately.”
Ravel smiled as she explained the plan. “Our team has been evaluated to have nothing but power. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this. Of course, some people have said that there must be a minimum level of strategy. The people who want to laugh at us can laugh all they want. —However, if they see someone significant supressed by true power, the people who laughed at us will most certainly shut up.”
Ravel said to me
“Ise-sama possesses an unrivalled power that can be demonstrated by an immense cannon blast of energy with Pseudo-Dragon Deification—. This single blow will create that kind of change in the game, and they will be able to see it for themselves. —So in this game, please wait until the time is right, and then blow away the majority of the field.”
[—What!] Ravel’s shocking plan left everyone speechless. Ravel then continued to add a few points. At the beginning, we would need to perform a thorough search of half of our territory. The area to be explored was our eastern side. The ones responsible for this would be Xenovia and Irina. At the same time, in order to prevent the other side from realising this, we still needed to visit the other areas to make it look as though we were searching. We also needed to move into our opponent’s territory. But, this was all just an act. Of course, it’d be best if we came across [objects], but that was not the goal this time. After clashing several times, and when both sides had made some gains in destroying [objects], it would be my turn to shine with Pseudo-Dragon Deification. I would fly into the centre of the field, and the unexplored areas of our territory, as well as half of our opponent’s territory — in other words, a vertical half of the entire field would be blown away by a semicircular sweep with ∞ Blaster. I would draw a counter-clockwise semicircle going from north to south, which would eliminate the entire western side. Because the field had a powerful barrier set up by the tournament authorities, such a plan was possible. And in this way, the majority of the field in our territory that hadn’t been explored would be blown away, so any [objects] that we hadn’t found would naturally be destroyed by me. After ∞ Blaster ended, we would close in on the remaining quarter of the field that we had not yet explored (the quarter of our opponent’s territory that had not been hit by my bombardment), thereby moving into the final phase. It truly was a bold and ambitious strategy! Although it was an approach that fully utilised our power…the idea seemed so perfect that even Xenovia seemed slightly perplexed. Ravel revealed a calm smile. “Simple petty tactics are completely useless in the face of true power; we shall burn this terror into the eyes of the contestants of the tournament, as well as all those who are watching it. There are a few competing teams in this tournament who are able to cause destruction to such a degree, but this is decisive power that even the lower level of god-class beings will not be able to overcome with strategy. This is what we need to demonstrate once more.”
And then, Ravel said this to me in a very simple manner. “I will use tactics different to Rias-sama and Sona-sama with this team to show everyone.”

Upon seeing this haughty declaration from Ravel, I couldn’t help recalling what her okaa-san had told me.