The chaotic noise of battle filled the area. Koneko punched and sent the insect monsters flying, while Kiba continued cutting down the ones that slipped past.
Daniel had already summoned an Ancient Gear Soldier, which crushed monsters with its massive body. So far, the Ancient Gear deck had been the most obedient—maybe because they were machines, or because Daniel used it often.
CRACKLE
The crackling of lightning echoed near the window, where a large number of monsters were gathering. Akeno, who usually laughed and enjoyed the fight or the enemy's suffering, was serious. Maybe she was exhausted: the creatures didn't hesitate or fear; no matter how many she fried with her lightning, more kept advancing to take their place.
Daniel, confused and anxious, didn't understand what was happening. Had the system betrayed him? He tried communicating with it, but got no response. Although he could still summon monsters and activate effect cards as usual, something felt wrong.
Where were the insects coming from? Not just that—there were also zombie monsters crawling toward them.
BANG
With a flap of his wings, Daniel sent flying an insect monster that got too close to Asia. Their numbers didn't diminish. Where were they coming from? The insects were starting to slip past Koneko and Kiba. Akeno seemed unsure; her devil power was being drained at an abnormal rate.
Rias awaited news from Grayfia, who had left a few minutes earlier, though she was also preparing a teleportation circle in case of emergency. But it wasn't working: something prevented or blocked the coordinate setting. Anxious, she turned to Daniel, wanting to understand what was happening.
The boy only shook his head as he retreated with the others; he was just as lost.
The group was soon cornered. The overwhelming number of creatures forced them into a defensive stance. It didn't matter how weak they were: they compensated with sheer numbers.
---
Riser's group didn't seem in better shape—in fact, they looked to be in greater danger. Issei hopped around trying to avoid the insects and zombies as he attempted to reach Asia with an injured girl in his arms.
Riser tried dealing with Beiige, but judging by his expression, the fight wasn't promising.
Riser clenched his teeth as he held his abdomen. Flames crackled as they tried to heal the wound, but a gray mist resisted stubbornly. The bastard who had attacked him "smiled" in front of him, completely unharmed. No matter how many times he burned him to ashes, the gray mist beginning to fill the place reformed him.
For the first time, the blond devil felt scared. The battle was hopeless if only he kept accumulating damage. The idea of running crossed his mind—before he hesitated, thinking of his peerage. He turned his head while dodging a thrust from the spear. His girls and his sister were in serious trouble. Surrounded by insect monsters, their wounds and fatigue were piling up.
Riser gritted his teeth. He regretted coming. Where had these things come from? And where was Sirzechs's queen? When he looked toward Rias's group, he didn't see the maid. Wasn't it her duty to protect them? He cursed internally before unleashing a massive wave of flames toward his group, incinerating the insects swarming around them.
"Yubelluna! Ravel! Group up with Rias's team!"
Although he often sacrificed his peerage ruthlessly in the Rating Games, he wouldn't do something that stupid in reality. The games didn't truly risk their lives; if one of them died here, he couldn't save her even with Phoenix Tears. He wouldn't allow that loss of resources.
The girls hurried down the smoking path created by the blond devil, carrying the injured, mainly the pawns.
Issei, who was nearby, also rushed through, taking advantage of the opening.
---
Daniel clenched his jaw, unsure whether to summon the Ancient Gear Golem.
Rias had been saving her magic until now—not because they expected an attack from Insect and Dark World monsters, but because it was part of the plan against Riser: a "deterrent" display of power.
Seeing the swarming green insects with sharp mandibles crawling by the hundreds around them, she felt fear. Judging by their appearance, they were clearly "Insect Tokens," spawned by a high-level monster: Metamorphosed Insect Queen, almost as strong as a Blue-Eyes.
If that creature appeared, they were dead. Rias had already told him teleportation was impossible, and he had already tried flying—only to be hit by poisonous stingers and webs that hindered his movement.
If not for Asia, Daniel was sure he'd be lying on the floor with a purple face and foam coming from his mouth.
Everyone was getting tired. The strain of battle and the gray mist covering the ground were taking their toll. Daniel had been shocked when he touched it: it was gray energy… or duel energy.
Had the system truly betrayed him? A malfunction? Or had he caused it himself?
Despite his doubts, his mind raced to find an escape method.
Riser—whom Rias said was quite strong—was already struggling with a 1600-attack monster like Beiige. Daniel didn't want to wait for a Sillva, Goldd, or even Grapha to show up.
Not to mention the Plaguespreader Zombies roaming the gym in hordes. If a Synchro monster appeared, not even ashes would remain of them.
His eyes moved toward Riser's group. Then he looked at the blond devil, and both reached the same conclusion: "Use bait."
Daniel didn't hesitate. He summoned Ancient Gear Wyvern, which spread its mechanical wings, ripping off webs. He grabbed Asia by the waist and, with his other arm, pulled Koneko.
"Get on! Hurry!"
The wyvern wasn't enormous, but it could carry the group's weight. Kiba jumped aboard and extended a hand to Rias and Akeno. Daniel was already on the machine's back when he ordered it to ascend.
Rias realized what he intended and tried to stop him, but he didn't listen. Issei, who was nearby, was grabbed by one of the wyvern's claws.
Daniel activated the equip spell: Ancient Gear Tank, placing it on an Ancient Gear Soldier, and fired at the ceiling, blasting open a huge hole through which they escaped.
Everything happened too fast. The monsters couldn't react, and Beiige and Broww didn't expect the node to flee, leaving his companions behind.
Riser cursed: Rias had dared to abandon him and use him as bait… not knowing he had planned to do the same.
Furious, he dodged the monster stabbing at him with the spear, ignored the arrows piercing his body, pulled out a vial, and drank it in one gulp. The Phoenix Tears expelled the gray energy and healed him instantly, restoring him to peak condition.
"Fly, damn it!" he roared as he burned everything around him.
His peerage spread their wings and ascended, carrying the wounded. They were quickly surrounded by monstrous locusts, massive bees, and spiders hanging from the ceiling trying to reach them.
Riser burned them again and rose after them, dodging arrows and insects.
A spear whistled and lodged in his back just before crossing through the roof hole, but the blond devil endured the pain and continued escaping.
Outside the gym, they froze in shock at the massive number of frozen monsters. The ones that had entered were only a thousandth of those that had managed to get past the enormous ice walls surrounding the school. The cold was so intense it froze weaker monsters on contact.
"Grayfia…" Rias whispered.
A massive firebird shot into the sky, but collided with the gray mist forming a dome over the entire school.
Riser clicked his tongue as the flames faded, revealing his peerage.
Rias, who had attempted teleportation and contacting her brother, finally understood why nothing worked.
Anxious from having no news about Grayfia and unsure what else to do, she spotted Sona's group fighting the insects while trying to get students into the school building.
She looked at Daniel and asked him to head there. The young man hesitated, but ordered the wyvern to move. He no longer had any idea where to go: the dome blocked all attempts to escape.
Riser, annoyed, burned some locust-like monsters approaching and followed along with his group.
---
Hundreds of meters away, in the forest, a massive rift trembled, about to break open. Black runes glowed around it, spinning to stabilize it.
Nearby, a gigantic insectoid female creature lay frozen in a block of ice. Bodies and broken limbs were scattered across the ground.
And among them, a beautiful silver-haired maid made the enormous black chains wrapped around her body creak as she observed the creature in front of her with a cold, emotionless gaze.