DxD: Wrong Way

Hearing the reward, Aoki perked up a bit.

He laid down in Himejima Akeno's arms and refused to get up.

He looked at Rias with an innocent face, signaling that he was listening intently.

Rias sighed and continued, "Due to a war with the gods many years ago, the pure-blooded devil bloodline disappeared. In order to increase the demon's combat power, the current demon king, Beelzebub, developed demon chess pieces to use against the devils. Reincarnation…" 

As Rias talked about the demon chess pieces, Aoki stopped wasting time and pricked up his ears to listen carefully.

The devil chess pieces and the ranking game both run through all of the plots of Devil's High School.

When he watched the animation, he found it interesting.

He knew what it was, but he didn't know why. 

Aoki originally planned to explore slowly to see if the rules here were the same as what he knew and what the differences were in the details.

Unexpectedly, Rias would take the initiative to provide the information. Considering this unexpected gain, today was not a bad trip. 

Aoki sat upright and listened attentively to Rias' story, not missing a word.

"Evil Piece (Devil Piece) is a chess piece modeled after real-world chess and is used to enhance the demon's combat power. It is a chess piece made by the current Demon King, Beelzebub. In the ranking game, there are King × 1, Queen × 1, Rook × 2, Knight × 2, Bishop × 2, and Pawn × 8. There are a total of fifteen chess pieces, excluding the king. Queens, rooks, knights, bishops, and pawns are dependent on the king. They are initially lower-level demons. If they perform well, they can be promoted to higher-level demons and receive chess pieces from the ranking game issued by the demon king. The higher the character's skill, the more chess pieces will be needed." 

Rias paused and waited for the king to say, "I'm not a demon."

Aoki digested this for a moment before asking, "Is there anything you don't understand?"

Compared to these points, Aoki would have liked Rias to discuss something more detailed, such as the strength levels and special abilities of various chess pieces. 

"Rias-senpai, can you tell me in detail about the ranking game and the various chess pieces, as well as the division of strength?"

Rias nodded and explained in more detail.

"The Rating Game is now the main way to determine a demon's status. The Rating Game is a way for lower-level demons to improve. It is a type of event that breaks tradition to protect the continuation of the race in this era."

"And because the war happened a long time ago, there has been no large-scale conflict or war among the three forces to restrain each other.

The young top demons also relied on the Rating Games to conduct training similar to real combat.

The Rating Game is a battle competition between demons led by a top demon and the highest demon, with the latter acting as king and leading his followers.

However, this is not a simple battle.

Many rules and restrictions are set during the game.

The use of these rules and restrictions, along with the utilization of terrain, will affect the evaluation of the king.

Depending on one's performance in the game, whether or not one receives a high rating can be a good choice.

A high rating as a demon can improve your status.

Even a lower-level reincarnated demon who is dependent can also enhance their status through performance.

This process involves upgrading from a lower-level demon to an intermediate level, upper level, and finally to the highest level.

Once a reincarnated demon becomes a top demon, they can obtain devil chess pieces from the demon king and gather their followers like a king.

However, even if you have become a king, when your master wishes to play a game, you still have to revert to your dependent status to participate."

Aoki nodded, understanding how things worked.

It sounds complicated, but it's actually not difficult to comprehend.

He had never played chess, but he knows how to play. 'General' and 'Commander' are equivalent to the kings of both sides.

Once defeated by the enemy, they lose.

In reality, ranked games cannot be played like chess.

Apart from this basic rule, other complicated rules hold little reference.

Moreover, the essence of ranked games ultimately lies in strength.

If the king is strong enough, even if all the family members are defeated and trapped in the enemy camp, the king can still secure victory—as long as the king is the only one who defeats all opponents.

In real chess, this would not be possible.

All chess pieces have equal strength, and victory or defeat depends on strategy.

Strategy is important in ranked games, but there is always only one key factor that ultimately determines victory or defeat: strength.

After learning about the ranking game, Aoki continued to ask:

"Rias-senpai, what is a lower-level demon, and what does it mean that the higher the skill, the more chess pieces are needed?"

Shitori Sona said, "Let me explain this to you."

She is a high-level devil like Rias.

She is the daughter of the Siddi family, a pure-blooded high-level devil lineage, and the next head of the family.

If she remains silent, and if Aoki feels she is not as capable as Rias, it will not be beneficial for future recruitment.

After talking for so long, Rias's little mouth was dry, and she stopped arguing with Shitori Sona.

"First, let me explain the abilities of the various chess pieces."

Shitori Sona pointed at Himejima Akeno and Shinra Tsubaki, saying_

"First of all, the Queen possesses the abilities of a rook, a knight, and a bishop. Is the strongest chess piece under the king's command. A queen is worth nine pawns, a rook is worth five pawns, and a knight and bishop are worth three pawns."

"The abilities of the other chess pieces are as follows: Rook: Has high attack and defense power. You can use the Rook to directly switch the positions of the king and your own. Knight: Has high speed. Bishop: Proficient in using magic. Pawn: Has the ability to 'promote' and can be promoted to a piece other than the king when it is in a position recognized by the king as an 'enemy position.'"

Aoki nodded thoughtfully, and his vague memory became clearer. In addition to enhancing certain abilities, different demonic chess pieces also had unique effects.

He had truly forgotten this.

There are no beautiful girls in ranking games, especially those whose clothes explode in battle…

"Shinra-senpai and Himejima-senpai are queens, and the president and Rias-senpai are kings?"

Even though Aoki knew it was entirely a show, he still asked.

"That's correct." ×2

Shitori Sona and Rias exchanged glances and revealed their true forms in unison.

With a bang, a strong wind suddenly rushed into the room, and a pair of jet-black wings appeared behind them.

A thin black tail swayed constantly from beneath the short skirt.

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Translator-san:

It was very difficult for me to read and translate this chapter; it is overly informative.

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