Issei had placed his armored hand on Ravel's shoulder, surprising the girl greatly with his determined expression. "I think what Asia-chan meant was that you seem very smart, and that being out here so early just doesn't seem right, or something like that at least."
The Phenex girl just looked at the [Pawn] for a moment with a small dusting of red coming to her cheeks soon after receiving the compliment. "W-whatever! It's not like I can really do anything against you all without getting retired in the first place, but there is no way that you guys can beat Onii-sama."
Issei just gave the girl a wolfish smirk as he brought a closed fist into his armor covered palm. "I'd like to see him try and take us all on, because in the end we'll be the ones coming out on top."
The blonde turned away from them with a 'hmph' as she walked a short distance away before looking towards the multicolored sky. "I surrender." A second passed and Ravel disappeared within a flash of light, signaling her retirement… or that's what should have happened. If it wasn't for the fact that she was still there.
"Uhh, is that supposed to happen?" Issei stage whispered to Kiba who only shrugged his shoulders, he was just as confused as the pervert.
"Hey! What gives I said 'I surrender'!" The Phenex Devil exploded, quite literally as tongues of fire flickered off of her form. "Hurry up and retire me already! This is getting really embarrassing!"
'You're not making it any better.' Was the collective thought of the Gremory peerage as they watched Ravel throw what likely amounted to a fire-induced tantrum.
~Line Break~
The group watching from the Student Council room looked on in confusion as the retirement system didn't kick in when Ravel had surrendered. Something that has never happened in any past Rating Game before now. A well maintained system that insured the lives of the combatants failing at a time like this was seemingly wrong.
For the reason that if the Gremory peerage had actually assaulted Ravel things might have gone wrong and they would have had to call the match… most likely in Raiser's favor.
Emilya scrunched up her nose as that thought passed her mind for a second as something else came up as well. "What would have happened if the system failed when those three servants got skewered and fell?"
The three women present looked at the loli in confusion before a flash of realization lit up on Sona's face. "They would have died." The two Fallen looked at the Devil with shock written clearly upon their faces. "If the fall hadn't killed them then surely they would have bled out before anything could have been done for them."
Emilya simply kept a neutral expression as Sona continued her explanation of what could have happened as Rias finally arrived on screen. The redhead seemed to be discussing something with her servants and when it was over they began to walk off. She stayed seated as Issei took the Phoenix Tear from Akeno and gave it to Ravel. With that they went on their way to the main school building to confront Raiser.
But the timing… it was almost too on point for the Magus' tastes, too much on point that she decided to investigate. "I'll be back, I'm just gonna check on something real quick." Before any of the three women present could say a word Emilya had already left the room and was halfway down the hallway.
She looked back to see if any of them had decided to follow her. Luck just so happened to be on her side at the moment as the game seemed to be more important than what she was doing. Emilya stopped as she gazed at the wall in front of her and placed her hand flat up against it. Opening fifteen of her circuits she prepared to do something very stupid: using Structural Analysis on the entire building.
"Trace on…"
To make sure her mind didn't get overwhelmed with the building's construction and going ons over the years she skipped it and went through the most recent history, the last hour or so. In general she was just trying to see if there was anyone else in the building. And sure enough she found there to be a group of what she assumed to be Devils in the faculty room watching the Rating Game. 'Now let's go see what the problem is with the… retirement system? Yeah, that's what Kaichou called it... I think.'
As she slowly made her way to the faculty room she couldn't help but to wonder what the retirement system even was. Was it some sort of box? A magic circle? Would she even be able to use Structural Analysis on it to see what's wrong if it were the latter? Maybe she could just use Rule Breaker and be done with it if it's just a simple enchantment placed on it… but that would be pointless if it were a magic circle.
She Traced Rule Breaker either way and a few moments later she was in front of the faculty room where the Devils were. But she couldn't move. She… she was frozen with fear at what she could smell coming from within that room. It smelt exactly like Rias, if only the Gremory heiress was a small match compared to this roaring inferno. Not to mention that it was also masking the other scents in the room with how overpowering it was. This meant that she was practically going in blind, about to face one of the most dangerous beings she has encountered in this world.
Her grip on the ritualistic dagger tightened as she raised her shaky arm and rapped her knuckles on the door. It was only a moment before the door was opened and the visage of Grayfia Lucifuge entered the opening. The maid looked both ways before looking down with an eyebrow rising up at the sight of the Magus.
Emilya's eye was twitching at the unintentional jab at her height, even if nothing was said the jab was still made. "Hello, Grayfia-san, it's good to see you again."
"Likewise, Einzbern-sama. What is it that you need?" The maid asked, eyeing the iridescent dagger in her hand.
Following her gaze Emilya shot her hands up in a sign of nonaggression. "This isn't an actual weapon! It's a magic tool that I use to dispel certain enchantments and curses on objects or people." And in her mind she silently added, 'It can also break magical contracts and take control of another Magus' servant… huh, I wonder if I can actually- NO! I have to worry about other things right now! Experimenting can come later. Who knows, all it might do is just expel the Evil Piece… hmmm, I wonder if it works on familiars?'
"I see." Emilya was broken out of her thoughts by that one simple phrase spoken by the Gremory maid. "I am not sure if that would work for the… problem you surely noticed while viewing the Rating Game. Let me ask Lucifer-sama and see if he would accept your help in addressing the situation at hand."
With that Grayfia retreated into the room leaving Emilya by herself in the empty hallway. The Magus just tapped her feet together as she looked down both ends of the hallway, trying to ignore the scent of complete nothingness permeating from within the room. To pass the time at the moment Emilya sat seiza-style on the ground and began to play the knife game using Rule Breaker.
Five minutes later and she was still poking the Noble Phantasm in between her fingers at dangerously high speeds. Yet there wasn't a single knick on her fingers, she couldn't say the same for the tip of the dagger though. This was the third Rule Breaker she had Traced since the last two's tip had broken off due to the amount of force the Magus was putting behind her jabs.
The clearing of someone's throat made her lose concentration and luckily Emilya had Reinforced this Rule Breaker which allowed it to now be embedded into the flooring. Looking up she is taken in by the sight of the stoic faced Grayfia, but the man standing behind her was new to her. The redheaded man was on the effeminate side of things as he wore a set of ornamental armor. He had this strange charming smile slightly similar to Kiba's own but vastly different in terms of how they were used.
"Hello there, it's nice to meet you. I'm Sirzechs Lucifer, a pleasure." Sirzechs put his hand out and Emilya didn't even think about the name she had just heard. She could tell that this man was the source of the terrifying scent even without actively using it.
"Emilya von Einzbern, and the pleasure is all mine, Lucifer-sama."
"Hahaha, no need to be formal with me Emilya-chan. You're not a Devil so there's no need for the formalities, so just Sirzechs will do. Now, I believe Grayfia-chan here told me that you may be able to fix the retirement system."
Emilya could only blink at who she assumed to be probably the most powerful man in Devil society act so casual. Honestly, this was the type of demeanor she preferred amongst rulers, too bad Gilgamesh didn't get the memo on that. "Ah, yes, I've come to see if I can do anything to fix the system. It just didn't feel right when it bugged out like that. If those three didn't retire when they did, that fall…"
Sirzechs only nodded his head in understanding as he too had come to the same conclusion. "Yes, you are correct, Emilya-chan. So it's of the utmost importance that you find out what's wrong with the retirement system, and if possible fix it."
"I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything." Emilya walked into the faculty room and was led by Grayfia to one of the cubicles while Sirzechs went elsewhere.
The teacher's desk that they approached was as standard as they got, but the device sitting on top of it wasn't at all. It was in the shape of a cube with little pylon sticking out of it, small magic circles floated over each one with a much larger one floating above it all.
'Great, it incorporates both technology and machinery. This should be fun.' Emilya thought as she gazed at the piece of equipment on top of the desk. "Give me a moment and I'll see if I can do something."
Grayfia nodded her head as she began to walk back to where the other Devils were currently before stopping. "When you finish feel free to join us in watching the remainder of the Rating Game." With that the Devil left, leaving Emilya all by herself with the retirement system.
"Okay, so let's see what makes you tick." Placing Rule Breaker down on the table, she went to press her fingers on the box as she began to Analyze it. Seeing what it was powered by and what all of the enchantments allowed it to do. 'Powered by the mana of the Maou or overseer assigned to view the Rating Game, should've known from that last name he was a Maou. Can create a pocket dimension for on the spot Rating Games of the surrounding area. Oh, so this wasn't supposed to be the arena used for the Rating Game. Okay, now what does it do? Teleportation. Minor healing. Cleansing of both wounds and skin. Disintegration of foreign objects. Removal of-'
"Nope! Did not need to know that!" Emilya exclaimed, she went back to looking at it again only to let out a sigh. "Oh, it's just the removal of clothes from the seriously injured. That's… that's good to know."
She returned to Analyzing the device, going over a few more minor enchantments not really finding anything wrong with it at all. "Tch, there has to be something wrong with you." Emilya picked up the device and began to physically look it over for anything she could have possibly missed. As her thumb brushed over the bottom of the device a small zap of something got her. This got the Magus interested as she flipped it over to see a crest on the bottom of it.
"Well, what might you be?" With a quick use of Structural Analysis she found the crest to be from the Naberius clan. But what really fascinated her was the suppressant enchantment that it held. Looking into it further Emilya finally found out why she couldn't find anything wrong, because there really was nothing wrong. The crest was just suppressing the actual retirement function of the system, and since it was still there it was seen as it being without any fault.
Before doing anything else she decided to do one of the few things Camael and Mittelt had been showing her how to do. With some focus a steel gray magic circle appeared over her outstretched palm, the center marking being the design of her command spells when she took part in the Holy Grail War.
Bringing it up to her ear she recalled the feeling of Grayfia's magical energy and hoped that this was how it worked. "Umm, Grayfia-san? Can you hear me, Grayfia-san?"
A moment passed by before the maid's voice came through. "Yes, I can hear you. What is it Einzbern-sama, did you find what was causing the glitch?"
Emilya sweat dropped at the use of her last name and decided that she'd correct that later as this was more important. "You could say that, but is it okay if I come into the-"
"Of course, please hurry and present your findings."
As the Magus dispelled her magic circle she grabbed the cube and dagger and walked over to where Sirzechs, Grayfia, and the other Devils were currently at. What she walked into… wasn't what she was really expecting. This part of the room had drastically changed, looking more ornate than a typical faculty room should look like. There she could see four Devils along with Sirzechs and Grayfia.
A middle-aged man with long red-hair, the same color as both Rias and Sirzechs, tied up in a loose ponytail, and a short beard of the same color. The woman next to him, who the loli assumed to be the redheaded man's wife, had a striking resemblance to Rias. The differences really only being her shorter flaxen-hair, violet-eyes and-
'Damnit, even though they're smaller than Gremory-senpai they're still huge.' Emilya thought as she patted her own much, much smaller chest.
Then there was the second man, one with blonde-hair that was spiky in the back and bared a strong resemblance to Raiser. The blonde woman sitting next to him was pretty much the same as Ravel, though her hair was done up very high with ornate hair decorations.
Yet, the two men were seen arguing, about what Emilya didn't have a single clue. The same went for their wives who were conversing about who knows what when a game deciding the future of their children's well-being was on the line.
Looking over at Sirzechs showed that he still had that smile on his face, though she now guessed that he used it to hide his annoyance with the Devil nobles he rules over. Grayfia was just standing off to his side with a weary look as she tried to focus on the Rating-
"Oh? Who are you, Dear?" Came the voice of Rias' mother, which in turn caused red-eyes to look at violet-eyes.
The noise from the argument quickly died down, as all of the attention was now on her. Eyebrows were raised at her as she was just a strange little human that was holding this game's entire functionality in her hand, with Rule Breaker being in the other. Clearing her throat she made her way to where she could clearly be seen by all six of the Devils present.
"My name is Emilya von Einzbern. A Magician, second-year student here at Kuoh Academy, and acquaintance of Rias Gremory-senpai." The parents of Rias gave her a small smile as did the ones of Raiser and Ravel. "I was called in by Lucifer-sama to check out the retirement system to see what was going on."
'Not the whole truth seeing as I came here on my own to check on it and Sirzechs-san just asked me to look at it after learning what I wanted to do. But they don't need to know that.' Emilya thought quickly as she continued with what she was saying. "And… I'm not so sure you're going to like what I'm about to say and insinuate how it got like this."