Start a Core Pod

Looking at the tactical board in front of her, Rias was also nervous.

Sona and she are also good friends, so she also knows each other's situation. Like Rias, Sona has not gathered all fifteen chess pieces. Now she only has one queen, one castle, one knight, and two Bishop, two soldiers. Including Sona himself as the king, there are only eight people.

Of course, Rias's situation is not much better. Now she has [Queen] Himejima Akeno, [Knight] Kiba Yuuto, [Castle] Tower City Koneko, and as a temporary contract [Soldier] Mary, Naruse Mio, Fulilian, Maria and Duanmu Huai.

Since Duanmuhuai clearly wants to fish, the current situation is eight versus eight.

Rias is aware of the strength of Himejima Akeno, Kiba Yuuto and Tashiro Koneko. As for Naruse Mio... she has also watched each other grow day by day, but Mari and Frillian are different. These two people rarely take action, so Rias doesn't know their true strength. Of course, it's obvious that they won't want to tell them directly.

Generally speaking, temporary contracts are rarely seen in official games. The reason is very simple. On the one hand, temporary contract soldiers cannot be promoted. On the other hand, it is also to avoid big bosses bullying newcomers on this grounds. Originally, Rias was prepared that the official might not let Duanmu Huai play. Unexpectedly, although the other party prohibited damage to the venue, it did not prevent Duan Muhuai from playing.

Of course, Rias can guess a little bit about the specific reason. The demon world wants to have a good relationship with the Tribunal, so visibility is very important, and the most watched competition in the demon world is the ranking match. If the Tribunal performs well in this aspect, , then he will enjoy a high reputation in the demon world, which will also be helpful to the advancement of his brother's plan.

 Strictly speaking, Duanmu Huai's presence on the court does not mean invincibility. The reason is very simple. The most important thing in ranking matches is to defeat the king. Just like in chess, victory is only considered when the king is captured. And it is obviously impossible for Duanmu Huai to be the king. Unless he has been following Rias as the "king", otherwise as long as the other party finds a chance to kill Rias, then they will lose this game. No matter what Huai did, it was useless.

Of course, on the other hand, as long as Duanmuhuai kills the opponent's king, Rias' side will also win. For Duanmu Huai, this is probably as simple as eating and drinking.

 Duanmu Huai himself may have known this very well, so he went straight to sleep.

 After all, if he takes action, it would be tantamount to cheating, so he might as well just sit back and watch.

If Rias had stayed at the base camp, then he could guarantee that Rias would be fine, but the question was - would Rias accept it?

Obviously not. If Duanmuhuai can only rely on Duanmuhuai to ensure victory, then you don't need to ask Rias to know that her evaluation in the demon world will inevitably decrease. The original intention of the ranking competition is to improve the evaluation of the devil, not just to win the game. So if Rias cowers behind Duanmu Huai in order to win, which lowers the Demon World's evaluation of her, then it is putting the cart before the horse.

Rias still understands the power of her kin, but about other people...

 “What are your plans?”

 “It depends on what you think, Miss Rias.”

Mary didn't care at all, while Fulian just glanced at Naruse Mio lazily.

 “I’m just here to guide her in actual combat.”

 …Okay, another fisherman.

 “Then, can you please ask Miss Mary to be the bait?”

 “Am I the bait?”

"Yes, Cang Na and I are very familiar with each other. Although I already know that Mr. Duanmu will not play, she definitely doesn't know. I think Cang Na will act on the premise that Mr. Duanmu will be the main force on my side, so I plan to use another method to seduce and divert their attention. Everyone knows that you have a good relationship with Teacher Duanmu. If you take the initiative, they might take action against you."

"for me?"

"Yes, after all, this battle has restrictions attached, and although it is said that it can be defeated, it does not say that it cannot be captured. Sona and the others don't know your strength, so they may want to restrict Mr. Duanmu by capturing you or Mio. It's very useful in action, as a hostage or as a shield."

As for why Mary was asked to play this role instead of Naruse Mio, the reason is very simple. Although Rias has not seen Mary's true strength, at least she can guess that since Duanmu Huai is so confident about Mary, then his strength must be guaranteed.

  As for Naruse Mio... maybe she was actually caught while acting.

"So you want me to be a bait, luring the opponent to take the initiative, and then fall into a trap..."

 After listening to Rias’ explanation, Mary’s expression was a little subtle.

 “If you don’t want to, forget it.”

“No, it’s just that I remembered the time when Mr. Duanmu and I first met.”

 “Just met?”

"Yes, Mr. Duanmu used me as bait to lure those monsters... I really miss him when I say it, it didn't take too long..."

While muttering to herself, Mary looked out the window with a complicated nostalgic expression. She still remembers that at that time, she had nothing but golden eyes, that is, she could only run faster, and then Duanmuhuai used her to catch monsters who were eager to get her golden eyes every day... Well, thinking about it now, it feels like The same thing happened a long time ago.

 Hearing what she said, everyone was also confused - is there such a development? Speaking of which, Teacher Duanmu, have you actually done this kind of thing?

But soon, Mary looked back.

"Please leave it to me. I am very experienced in making bait."

　　　…………”

Facing the confident Mary, others didn’t know what to say.

 Soon, the competition officially started.

 The map is the entire department store, and the time limit is three hours, so it is a short-term decisive battle. From this point of view, both sides can only fight quickly. Perhaps because of this, it is restricted from destroying the entire venue, otherwise things will be in trouble.

 Rias is paired with Akeno Himejima, Yuto Kiba is paired with Koneko Tashiro, Mari is paired with Maria, and Mio Naruse is paired with Fulian.

Mari and Mio Naruse are considered baits, while Rias and Tacheng Koneko are responsible for the ambush. As long as they find the other party, Mari and Naruse Mio will find a way to lure them to the designated place, and then swarm them and defeat them. This is a very classic and orthodox bait tactic.

Of course, in fact, there are only a few types of tactics that come and go. In the final analysis, it still depends on how to use them.

At this moment, Mary was walking upright on the street. She was holding a staff that looked like a cane in her hand. She looked like a young lady going to the mall, while Maria was jumping next to Mary. , looking around curiously.

“This is a ranking competition. This is my first time participating in it.”

 “Hasn’t Wan Liya participated before?”

"I didn't have a master before, but my sister once participated, um... But if it weren't like this now, I wouldn't participate. After all, Mio-sama has given up on becoming the head of the family."

As he spoke, Wanria clenched his fist and waved it a few times.

"To be honest, I'm quite worried about Mio-sama, what if she encounters a strong enemy there."

　　"Is everything okay with Miss Florian here?"

 “That’s what I said, but...”

　　While the two were talking, three figures appeared in front of them, blocking the way of Mary and Maria. “I didn’t expect that the first person I met would be you. It’s really surprising.”

The first person to speak was the long-haired woman standing at the back of the trio. She is the [Queen] of Sona and the vice president of the student union. Standing next to her were the families of [Castle] and [Knight].

“I thought Teacher Duanmu would come directly to kill me.”

 “Mr. Duanmu is sleeping.”

Mary gave a straightforward answer.

“Because the rules restricted his performance, Mr. Duanmu felt bored, so he went to sleep.”

“Hahaha, it does seem like something Teacher Duanmu would do.”

Hearing Mary's answer, the vice-president also chuckled, then she calmed her expression and stared at Mary.

"To be honest, I never thought I would fight you in a ranking battle, Mary-san, but... let me see your strength!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the vice president drew out his long knife and rushed toward Mary. At the same time, the [Knight] beside her also quickly attacked and stood in front of Maria.

Soon, the two sides fought together.

The opponent's [Castle] seems to be a fist-and-foot faction, and now you are punching and I'm kicking Wanlia. Facing the vice president's attack, Mary seemed very calm. She was seen holding the staff in one hand and walking backwards. He easily dodged the opponent's attack and at the same time raised the staff in his hand, and then a stream of meteors shot out from the staff and flew towards the vice president.

"drink--!"

Facing the oncoming star fire, the vice-president did not show any weakness. She shouted softly, swung the long knife in her hand, and directly cut off the star beam fired by Mary. At the same time, she leaned forward again, trying to fight with Mary again. Fight.

At the same time, the last [Knight] was holding a blade in her hand and observing the battlefield carefully. It was obvious that she was looking to see which side could no longer hold on before helping - of course, even if she did nothing, it would be enough to contain Mary and Maria.

 “Drink——ha——!”

 The vice-president quickly closed the distance with Mary, and swung the long knife in her hand again and again, but her attacks had no effect at all. Every attack would be barely dodged by Mary, unable to hit the opponent at all.

 Is this the power of Mary’s classmate?

 Holding a long sword in her hand, the vice-president also looked solemn. She knew that the other party was only a human being, not a demon, and he was a soldier with a temporary contract, which meant that it was impossible to have power comparable to that of a demon.

However, what surprised the vice-president was that his attacks had no effect on Mary. She considered herself a master of swordsmanship, but every time she struck, Mary would easily dodge it. It seemed that the opponent had already taken action against her. It was like seeing through the trajectory of her swordsmanship in an instant.

 Could it be that Mary is also a hidden master of swordsmanship?

　　“唰————!”

The long knife was swung down again, and Mary, as always, dodged to the side as if she had seen through the opponent's attack. At the same time, she raised the staff in her hand and released the meteor magic again. The vice-president has long been used to this, and it is obvious that Mary will take advantage of her to resist the magic and distance herself again - just like she did several times before.

So she raised the knife without hesitation and swung it at the meteor magic in front of her again to break it.

However, just as the vice-president swung his sword to break the meteor magic, she saw that Mary did not retreat as before. On the contrary, her left hand suddenly raised, and a strange-shaped pistol suddenly appeared in front of her. in hands!

"boom!"

Even Maria, who was fighting with the [Knight] next to him, was stunned by the sudden sound of gunfire. Everyone hurriedly turned their heads and looked towards the place where the sound came from. They saw Mary holding a staff in her right hand and a sword in her left hand. Holding a handgun, aiming forward. In front of her, the vice president was half-kneeling on the ground, reaching out to cover his chest.

 “I didn’t expect you could actually use a gun...”

Looking at the gun in Mary's hand, the vice-president was speechless. It's no wonder that whether in the demon world or the human world, demons fight with either cold weapons or magic. Weapons like guns are extremely rare. So much so that when Mary pulled out her gun, the vice president didn't even realize what was happening and was shot.

 Speaking of which, she is a foreign student, but...

 “It’s a shame you brought the gun in...”

 “Please don’t move.”

Mary stood there, the gun in her hand still aimed at the vice president in front of her.

"I heard that in this kind of competition, you will automatically quit as soon as you lose your fighting ability. You have been injured and there is no way to continue fighting."

“Yeah, even though it didn’t hit the target, it’s only a matter of time before I’m eliminated if this continues.”

 The vice-president took a breath, and then looked at Mary.

 “But...I’m not done yet!”

Before he finished speaking, the Vice-President suddenly jumped up and stabbed Mary straight with the long knife in his hand. Facing the Vice-President's almost life-threatening blow, a golden light flashed in Mary's eyes, and then She raised her gun and aimed it at the vice president.

"boom!"

 Succeeded!

Hearing the gunfire again, a smug sneer appeared on the vice president's face. She didn't expect her attack to harm Mary just now, but she also had her own trump card, which was the artifact she hid!

 “Come out, Mirror of Memories!”

Following the vice president's call, a gorgeously decorated mirror appeared in front of the vice president. Once this mirror is destroyed, the damage will be doubled and reflected back to the opponent. According to the vice president's idea, Mary's The bullet will definitely break the mirror, and then she will be out of the game just like herself because of the rebound attack!

However...the expected picture did not appear. The bullet did not hit the mirror as the vice president imagined. On the contrary, it flew past the edge of the mirror and then hit the ground next to it.

How can it be……!

Looking at this scene, the vice president's eyes widened in surprise. She is an expert in counterattack. Logically speaking, her trump card has not been exposed. The other party should not know the secret of her artifact at all.

So, what exactly is this...

The vice-president's thinking ended here. The next moment, she fell to the ground with excessive blood loss, and then disappeared into the air with a flash of light.

 At the same time, the sound of the radio sounded again.

 【Cang Na. One of Sir Siddi's 'Queens', eliminated】

Seeing the vice-president disappearing in the light, [Castle] and [Knight], who were fighting with Wanria, looked at each other and nodded. Then they retreated suddenly, then turned around and ran away!

 “What shall we do now, Sister Mary?”

At this moment, Maria also ran over and looked at Mary curiously. The latter thought for a moment and made a decision.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ded by