{Present, Gremory Training Ground}
—Ingvild Levaithan—
She took a good look at each of the devils they were supposed to fight. She wasn't even sure why they were out training when she had woken up just a day before.
She still had to figure out her powers. While her King had explained some of the abilities of her Sacred Gear—which was apparently a Longinus—she hadn't fully mastered them yet. For now, she had to rely on her bloodline abilities, and she hoped that would be enough.
"Are we sure we can win?" she asked, thinking that their opponents didn't seem to have very high demonic power. But for all she knew, they could be hiding it.
"In terms of raw power?" Faiser replied, his voice only audible to her. "We're way too strong for them. But in terms of abilities… I'm not sure."
That didn't sit right with her. She wasn't sure why he had agreed to fight them then.
"Don't worry," he added, trying to reassure her. "You handle the long-range attacks. I won't let them get close to you."
He glanced at his opponents. "I promised not to use Bind, and I definitely can't use Sever," he muttered through clenched teeth. "Might have to rely on raw demonic power."
She didn't know what any of those were, having never seen him fight before. But as his queen, she chose to trust him.
"Don't get hurt," she said, and he chuckled.
"You too."
"Ready?" she heard the red-haired girl—Faiser called her Rias—ask.
"Ready?" he whispered to her, and she nodded.
"We're ready," he said, confirming her nod.
"Then good luck!" Rias yelled, signaling her two physical attackers. "Kiba, Koneko!"
The Knight charged with his gold-plated sword, while the Rook dashed forward with her fists.
Faiser didn't stay in place either. As promised, he didn't use Bind or Sever. She still didn't know what those abilities were, but she could guess from the names.
She watched as Faiser closed in on the two attackers. He twisted his feet, pivoting to catch Koneko's punch. Being multiple stages higher in power also boosted his agility, strength, and other physical abilities, so keeping up with her speed wasn't an issue.
As he twisted, the bracelet on his right hand transformed into a single black sword. The sword blocked Kiba's slash, and the momentum of his spin allowed him to push Kiba back while simultaneously throwing Koneko to the side.
'Is he not using his raw strength?' she thought. If he applied his full Ultimate Class strength, he could knock them out in one hit. 'Why isn't he?'
"Reya!"
"Akeno!"
She noticed both Sona and Rias commanding their long-range units, and the duo launched a combination of earth and lightning attacks toward Faiser.
As his long-range support—and his queen—she had to act. Though she knew water was a bad matchup for water, she had no choice.
Faiser noticed her hesitation and called, "Ingvild!" reminding her she was responsible for his safety.
She was too late. The attacks were already reaching him, and if not for his quick thinking, he would have been struck. Even then, he might have shrugged it off—but she couldn't take the risk.
He transformed the sword in his hand into a spear, positioning it just inches away from the incoming lightning. The spear, surprisingly metallic, grounded the energy and redirected the lightning harmlessly.
For the earth spikes flying toward him, he teleported to the left, barely dodging them.
This defense immediately drew the attention of Sona's Knight and Rook, who rushed toward him with their weapons. Behind them came elemental attacks from her queen, bishops, and Rias's queen—lightning, earth, and fire, in bolts, spikes, and spirals.
She knew Faiser could handle the physical attacks, so she didn't hesitate. She summoned her bloodline ability without relying on her Longinus.
'Sea Serpent of the End!'
She gained perfect control over water and the ability to summon water serpents. She focused on water manipulation.
She created a huge, ring-shaped puddle around Faiser, enclosing him and the advancing Knight and Rook. Tiny water snakes formed within the puddle—dozens of them—circling at lightning speed to create a whirlpool-like effect. It was like a water hurricane. When the attacks hit, they were destroyed.
Spikes shattered, fire dissipated, and lightning conducted harmlessly through the water before losing energy to the surroundings. Inside the spiral, Faiser deflected the physical attacks with ease, landing precise hits to knock his opponents out cleanly.
As the water settled, he used the moment to blink outward.
Ingvild was amazed. A guy her age was handling multiple opponents effortlessly without relying on most of his abilities or Ultimate Class strength. He was using the bare minimum—yet it was more than enough. Even the hits targeted their necks, not their torsos.
"Reya, dodge!" Sona shouted, but it was too late.
Faiser had already teleported behind her, grabbed her by the back of her head, and pushed her to the ground.
Sona's queen tried to help but couldn't.
Ingvild hadn't used her abilities in a long time, but she was quickly getting used to them. By the time Tsubaki tried to use her own powers, Ingvild had already summoned sea serpents about two meters long, wrapping them around Tsubaki's hands and feet to stop her from moving.
She targeted Tsubaki first, not knowing her powers and having no intention of finding out. Someone like Akeno wouldn't interfere either, as her lightning would risk injuring Tsubaki.
"Tsubaki!" Sona's white-haired bishop tried to intervene.
Tried.
Ingvild restrained her in the same way, wrapping her in water serpents.
This gave Faiser enough time to knock out the other bishop and teleport behind the restrained opponents, taking them out cleanly.
Sona had no peerage members left, and Akeno was momentarily stunned by the serpents rushing toward her. Kiba tried to help, but Faiser had already retrieved the spear he'd thrown, transforming it into a cutlass and swinging at him.
"You've gotten better," Kiba grinned, defending with his sword.
"Don't have the techniques yet," Faiser laughed, "but I have the strength and speed to handle you."
He didn't lie. Instead of playing with sword techniques, he forced Kiba to handle the full force of the swing, then lunged a kick to Kiba's stomach, sending him coughing several feet away. Ingvild used the opportunity to wrap Kiba in her snakes, suffocating him until he passed out.
By this point, she was having fun. A lot of fun.
"That weapon isn't fair!" Rias yelled.
"Should've complained before the match started!" Faiser laughed.
He tossed the cutlass toward Rias. Akeno tried to block it, but it was a feint. Faiser teleported next to her and landed a punch.
Ingvild could see he was enjoying himself, even if only a little. The punch sent Akeno flying into Kiba, allowing Ingvild to finish her off.
As for the cutlass, it never reached Rias.
Faiser's skill made the weapon vanish and reappear behind Koneko. She didn't even sense it before it transformed into a mace and struck her in the back, knocking her out instantly.
That left only Rias and Sona.
Faiser retrieved the mace and changed it into a longsword. Ingvild moved toward Sona, ready to fight the Sitri heiress with her signature ability. Water against water.
Rias bit her lip, knowing all her attacks would miss. Faiser could teleport behind her, making it impossible to land a hit.
"I… surrender," Rias said reluctantly, leaving only Sona.
Faiser smiled and stepped back toward Rias.
"I surrendered," Rias reminded him, pouting.
"I heard," Faiser replied. "I want to see how they perform." He crossed his arms and stood next to Rias, deciding not to interfere.
Sona and Ingvild prepared to fight.
Sona created a rapidly spinning, compressed water sphere. Ingvild had one snake crawl through her arm, its head expanding rapidly.
As Sona threw the sphere, the snake's massive mouth acted as a shield. The sphere hit it, exploding and destroying both the sphere and the snake's head.
Sona jumped back and formed water spears, shooting them at Ingvild. A wall of water appeared, blocking the attack.
Sona hadn't noticed that Ingvild had created a water ring similar to the one she'd made around Faiser. While forming the sphere, Ingvild had summoned a serpent inside the ring.
Biting her lip, Sona realized the massive skill gap.
"You have more options than me," Ingvild said, as if teaching. "Don't stick to rigid shapes. Use malleable ones, and plan ahead. Think of your next move before you launch your first."
The wall hid Ingvild from view, leaving Sona blind. From it, snakes suddenly emerged in all directions. Ingvild had released them while forming the wall, trapping Sona in a whirlwind of serpent attacks. She had to cut through the snakes with her water, draining her energy.
"Sona," Ingvild sighed. "You have versatility, but you're not using it. Next time we train, I want to see more."
"What do you mean by next ti—"
Before she could finish, the water wall collapsed, flooding her surroundings. The water formed a massive sphere with Sona inside. She tried to control it, but being weaker in demonic power meant she had no chance. Soon, her vision blurred, then went dark, and she lost consciousness—Ingvild had won, securing Faiser's victory as well.
The sphere exploded, leaving Sona unconscious. Ingvild let out a long exhale, clearly a little exhausted.
"Now that was a good show," Faiser clapped. "Wouldn't expect anything less from my queen."
"That…" Rias was baffled. "H-How did she overpower Sona with water? That's Sona's element!"
Faiser smirked. "Well, being an Ultimate Class and a descendant of the original Leviathan helps with water manipulation."
Rias froze, glancing at him and then at Ingvild, who sighed at her King.
Ingvild couldn't tell if her king was ignorant or just loved messing with people. She guessed it was the latter.
"WHAT?!"
'There it is,' she thought. 'Exactly what he was looking for.'
One thing was certain: being Faiser's queen was not going to be boring.
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{A/N:A/N: Got a pat reon named RedLamp01 with 30+ chapters.}