—Promotion!
With Ryuya's whispered murmur, an unimaginably vast surge of demonic power suddenly erupted from his body!
That torrential magic condensed into a pillar of demonic light that shot straight into the sky, piercing the clouds and stirring the winds and skies.
And that wasn't all.
At the same moment, another identical pillar of light rose up from the office building in the new school district—Riser's headquarters!
Boom!
Riser's demonic attack was blown apart the instant it neared Ryuya, scattered by the soaring pillar of magic before it could have any effect at all.
"…Promotion?"
Riser stared in disbelief. Yubelluna and Shuriya—who had just Promoted into a Queen herself—also froze mid-attack, completely dumbfounded.
Everyone knew that Ryuya was Rias's Knight.
Yet now, before everyone's eyes, this Knight had just undergone a Promotion…
Was this some kind of illusion?
This was supposed to be a Pawn's Promotion, damn it!
And then—who was the other one forming that pillar of light?!
Inside the subspace, Riser was utterly confused, but the powerful figures watching from outside the battlefield understood part of the truth—and at this moment, every single one of them was shocked by Ryuya.
Who could have imagined that he could even share combat power like this?
Honestly, this was outrageously close to cheating!
From the observers' perspective, the moment Akeno was defeated, Ryuya had decisively recalled his clone to the athletic field, then charged straight toward the principal's office of the new school building.
Now, Rias's side also possessed two Queens worth of top-tier combat power. In addition, there was Bishop Asia Argento's Twilight Healing to provide support, capable of offsetting part of the advantage brought by the Phoenix Tears…
Just as Ryuya had said—who would emerge victorious was still far from certain!
Whoosh!
A sharp tearing sound rang out as Ryuya's clone descended from the sky, crashing down beside Ryuya's true body. He landed in a stylish one-knee pose, the resulting shockwave whipping up violent gusts of wind.
One stood upright, the other half-kneeling.
The surging demonic power radiating from the two of them left everyone present in disbelief.
At this moment, Ryuya's magic was simply too immense—so overwhelming that it was already close to surpassing even Riser and Rias, both Kings. That colossal aura was enough to make any high-class devil turn pale in fear!
"How is this possible…? What kind of cheating method did you use?" Riser muttered, staring at the two Ryuyas before him as his eye twitched uncontrollably.
"Cheating? What an ugly way to put it," Rias snapped back sharply. "Ryuya is a dual-class Evil Piece. He isn't just a Knight—he's also a Pawn. That's why he can undergo Promotion!"
At last, Rias could finally shout this secret out loud, her expression blazing with excitement.
She had guarded Ryuya's secret all this time—and now, it was finally his moment to shock the world.
Her face brimmed with pride. After all, Ryuya was her servant, and as his master, this feeling was indescribably satisfying!
At that moment, Ryuya's clone straightened up. The Sword of Kings suddenly appeared in his hand, and torrents of demonic power surged wildly into the blade!
He swung his sword in a single decisive arc toward the sealed girls.
Instantly, a dazzling crescent of moonlight streaked through the air toward them!
With their magic already sealed, how could they possibly resist?
The sword arc swept across their bodies. Thin lines of blood instantly appeared, followed by blood spraying forth like fountains.
Amid cries of pain, their bodies transformed into white light, one after another.
After his clone heavily injured those girls with a single strike—sending all of them off in beams of white light—Ryuya's true body turned his gaze toward Riser.
"Your turn."
As the third son of the Phenex family, when had Riser ever been treated with such contempt?
"Damn it! So what if you're dual-class? How dare you look down on me like this! The glory of the Phenex family is not something you're allowed to trample—go die!!"
His fury surged, and he immediately gathered his demonic power, launching a ferocious assault at Ryuya!
Ryuya clicked his tongue inwardly, thinking that he had no interest whatsoever in trampling on whatever so-called glory the Phenex family had.
"I'm not so bored that I'd want to trample on your glory," he said calmly. "I just want to beat you up."
As his words fell, the clone stepped forward and, without the slightest courtesy, swung his sword straight down!
The Sword of Kings erupted with an overwhelming pressure. Even against Riser of the Phenex Clan, it successfully cleaved through his demonic defenses, wounding him.
"Master!"
Yubelluna and Shuriya both cried out anxiously, about to rush in to help.
Just as Rias was about to stop them, she heard Ryuya's calm voice:
"Rias, leave it all to me."
Hearing that, the red-haired mistress immediately smiled brightly. She no longer tried to block the two of them, letting them charge at Ryuya instead. Meanwhile, Rias herself went to stand together with Asia and Ravel, happily settling in to watch the show…
And so, Ryuya's true body engaged Riser in a one-on-one clash, while his clone—Sword of Kings in hand—moved to face Yubelluna and Shuriya.
After the Promotion, Ryuya felt stronger than ever before. The Rook's power and defense, the Knight's speed, the Bishop's magic—his overall attributes had doubled across the board.
Riser's two Queens had barely flown close when they were met with a crushing head-on blow. The moment the two sides clashed, the expressions of Riser's Queens changed drastically!
They were being suppressed outright.
Ryuya's strength at this moment was utterly overwhelming!
Even Shuriya, who was also in a promoted state, was sent flying by a single sword strike from Ryuya!
"This can't be possible! We're both promoted—why is your increase so much greater than mine?!" Shuriya smashed heavily into the ground, her face filled with disbelief.
"Hehe, you only used up one Pawn piece," Rias chimed in from not far away, adding insult to injury, the pride on her face impossible to hide. "But Ryuya used eight."
Her words stunned everyone present. The way they looked at Ryuya now was as if they were staring at a monster.
That's right—eight Pawn pieces and two Knight pieces, all invested into a single person. Just how terrifying did that potential have to be…?
Ravel was already completely dumbfounded, her cute little mouth hanging open as she struggled to find any words at all.
She realized that today… Riser might really lose.
But Riser had no intention of admitting defeat.
"I am an immortal phoenix who commands wind and fire! You think someone like you can defeat me?!"
His flesh regenerated rapidly, his wounded body restoring itself as he fearlessly clashed head-on with Ryuya's true body.
Ryuya remained unhurried as he controlled the Shield. He wasn't just abusing the clone—his Sacred Gear itself was broken as well. The Benevolent King Sword and Shield could be split and used separately; strictly speaking, it was as if he possessed two Sacred Gears…
No matter how Riser attacked, he couldn't break through Ryuya's defense, growing more and more frantic with every exchange.
Then, from afar, he heard two cries of pain.
When he turned his head to look, he saw the other Ryuya holding the Sword of Kings, suppressing and eliminating his two Queens from the game.
At that moment, Ryuya's true body smiled faintly.
"Lord Riser," he said calmly, "checkmate."
----
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