High School DxD - Book 25: Chapter 7-3

After all preliminary matches for the first Rating Game World Tournament [Azazel Cup] had ended, the announcement for the teams that made it to the main stage took place at the floating city of Agreas in the Underworld, which was regarded as the sacred territory of the Rating Games. The commentator, Naud Gamigin, along with another guest commentator, livened up Agreas Stadium. Even though there was no match, the spectators were pushing each other as the entire stadium was completely filled. As the media from every mythology was covering the event, the announcement started.

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As Naud Gamigin roared, the giant monitor on the stadium started to show the first team.

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He participated in the Tournament where Gods from every other mythology joined in order to show off his power. While everyone withdrew from the tournament as their spirit withered because of the mighty monsters and brutal Sacred Gears, this God of War, on the other hand, enjoyed that tendency. A team that focused on Buddhism and was accompanied by the Four Heavenly Kings (Dhrtarastra, Virudhaka, Virupaksa, Vaisravana) was one of the winning candidates since the beginning. The next team was then displayed.

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Starting from Cao Cao who wielded the strongest Longinus, they were the team that consisted of people who challenged humanity’s limits. The ability to transform a Sacred Gear into its Balance Breaker was both widely acknowledged and feared by supernatural beings. Not to mention that Guan Yu who joined forces with them gave them a big advantage.

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Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, the former trio along with the heaven-sent child, Nezha, their synergy was incredible, allowing them to defeat Ultimate-class Devils and even Gods. The power of the legendary team was also legendary.

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Mount Meru was the number one rivaled mythology even in the main stage, and those who once trained under Sakra showed just how much power the God of War had. The next team was displayed on the monitor.

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Even though they suffered a defeat from the turbulent match against Hyoudou Issei’s team, the team where the legendary King of Monsters participated along with the chief God of Asgard and Olympus had an unrivaled strength as they crushed the preliminaries with ease. With that lineup, they were also one of the favoured candidates. On top of that, there was a high chance that the Gods supporting them would join their team. Even now, it was still a team full of unknown factors.

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The Legendary giant Surtr’s team from the Norse mythology crushed the preliminaries. The flame giant was said to easily burn even Gods to the ground. This was one of the causes for the withdrawal of God-class beings from the tournament.

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Even though the team of the Prince of the Asuras was defeated by the mysterious newcomer Devils Balberith and Verrine, they won the rest of their matches with an unwavering divine class as they were one of the winning candidates.

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The most unexpected team. A dark horse that no-one anticipated. Since the middle of the tournament, they were the team marked by everyone in the last stage of preliminaries as their Sacred Gear abilities got stronger. Their team also became a hot topic among the mythologies as their members weren’t just Sacred Gear users, but strong people whose names were still unknown as well. Who in the world were they, and why hadn’t they been noticed until now? Their goal for winning was — to be able to live without having to worry about starvation. Their goal was the smallest amongst all the teams that crushed the preliminaries. However, it was a story which could describe their past. —Why didn’t anyone find them? These talents, these outstanding talents that didn’t have any social position, went on a rampage at the tournament as they proved the real meaning of it to every single mythology that participated. And then, there was another dark horse—.

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The team that had the High-class Grim Reaper Zeno from the Netherworld as their [King]. Basically, they were a team with Grim Reapers and other monsters as their members. They didn’t gather that much attention as their winning percentile was pretty low in the early stages of the preliminaries. However, ever since the middle of the preliminary stage, after they took the prodigious Devils Balberith and Verrine into their team, they continuously won and started to become one of the top competitors. They were one of the completely unexpected teams who made it through the preliminaries. Balberith and Verrine’s combat potential was feared by many, and even God-class beings started to avoid them. On top of that, their team was still gathering atrocious Devils, which meant that their power hadn’t been completely clarified.

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While advisor Rudiger Rosenkreutz’s direction was amazing, they also displayed great team synergy among all the participants. They were also a balanced team as they often won against high-ranked opponents.

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The Longinus that was able to cut even God was still going strong, and the ability of [Absolute Demise] to freeze everything made opposing teams fear them. This team was also great in their teamwork, and there weren’t any openings from them. As the team was believed to have received blessings from Japanese Gods, the full extent of their power had yet to be seen.

And then, on the monitor, the Devils’ team that had charged through the preliminaries and had gathered attention in the Underworld was introduced.

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Even though they joined at the middle of the tournament, the team play of the champion was strong, regal and absolute. They kept gaining a series of victories as they got into the top class and brazenly beat even God-class beings, whirling through the preliminaries. While the real ability of Diehauser Belial was unquestionable, participants from all mythologies were confronted with the true essence of the Rating Games in the face of the Champion’s bold and solid game play.

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The next head of the Phoenix clan, Ruval Phoenix, who was a top ranker even in the original Rating Games, scouted [Immortality], [Immortal Bird], and [Sacred Bird] beings from all over the world and successfully created a combination team to enjoy this international tournament. As a result, they made all mythologies strongly reaffirm the so-called concept of [Immortality]. A lot of people knew that if they gathered the [Immortality] that only God-class beings could beat, then they would become a force that wouldn’t even be defeated by God-class beings. And there was another [Immortal] who had joined—.

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Indeed, there was a possibility that the people who didn’t survive the prelims (there was a restriction on the number of who could come back) could become a member of a team that would be progressing to the main stage where they could shine again. In addition, it was possible for players to be recruited from the teams which had been eliminated from the main stage as well, although there were some strict limitations there. And the monitor continued to display the young Devils…

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The Fist of the Lion King that was said to be equal to a Maou-class Devil, and could supposedly even reach the Gods in this tournament. While there were times when he would be teased as the one-man army because of his unbelievably strong arms, the teamwork with his servants was also magnificent as there were only a few small mistakes. There were rumours that the team of the next head of Duke Agares’ clan, Seekvaira Agares, who was eliminated in the preliminaries, would be joining their team, and it looked like the Lion King team would be rampaging in the main stage as well. Shown next on the monitor was — the colour of crimson.

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Rias Gremory’s team was strong with the Sekiryuutei, but they were also strong without him—. That girl drastically changed her own evaluation in the tournament. She was highly evaluated on the [Scout] field as she was able to take in Vasco Strada, who was said to have reached the utmost limits of humanity that no-one else had been able to reach, along with the ultimate Evil Dragon Crom Cruach, and two other Longinus users in her team, combining all their abilities together. Of course, her servants who followed her since the early days had also grown, making it one of the veteran teams.

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As Naud Gamigin yelled that, an animation of a red and white Dragon was displayed. The first to be displayed was — Vali Lucifer.

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He was really popular as he was the direct descendant of Lucifer, the symbol of Devils, one of the Two Heavenly Dragons, Odin’s adopted child, and above all else, the fated rival of the Oppai Dragon. Because of his overwhelming strength, and the fact that his comrades were a group of strong ruffians, their team received much attention. They were touted as one of the winning candidates. The last one to be introduced was — that man. The song was played on the entire stage—.

[Zoom Zoom Nya—n!]

What the monitor displayed along with the Oppai Dragon Song was — the Red Dragon Hyoudou Issei.

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[Oppai Dragon!]

[Oppai! Oppai!]

[Opaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai!]

Regardless of age or gender, thunderous welcoming voices echoed through the arena. They were the most popular amongst all teams since their participation, and you could even say that they were the best team that had received support from a wide range of people.

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Even though they were uneven in terms of the details and direction of their matches, they basically kept gaining wins and golden stars like when they defeated the [Leisure of the Kings] team, and they magnificently stepped up to reach the main stage. While the flashy power of their members was unchallenged, their tactics were also so great that they excited the spectators with the cleverness of their games. All mythologies were paying attention to them, especially to the destructive power of the black armor, and whether the resurrected legendary Heavenly Dragon Ddraig would be rampaging again. Displayed on the monitor were the sixteen teams that had been chosen to move on to the main stage, lined up next to each other.

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