Underworld, Gremory Territory, Gremory Estate.
While James and Cu Chulainn were speaking to Scathach in her throne room, Rias and her peerage, along with Azazel arrived at the Gremory Estate in the Underworld. Upon arriving at the Estate, Rias took her peerage to meet with her parents. The main reason for this meeting was to introduce Mio and Maria to Zeoticus and Venelana. After entering the house, they easily found the Gremory Couple sitting in the living room drinking tea.
"So, these are my nieces?" Zeoticus asked with a curious smile on his face. "Wilber certainly gave birth to a couple of beautiful girls."
"Indeed." Venelana said while observing the young girls in front of her. "So, would you mind introducing yourselves?"
"My name is Mio. Naruse Mio." Mio said with a polite bow.
"And I'm Naruse Maria." Maria said cheerfully.
"Well, it's nice to meet both of you." Venelana replied with a smile. "I'm your aunt, Venelana Gremory. The Lady of House Gremory."
"And I'm your uncle, the current Head of House Gremory and your father's younger brother, Zeoticus Gremory." Zeoticus introduced himself with a smile.
After the introductions, Mio and Maria fell silent. Zeoticus and Venelana also fell silent. Though they were sure they knew what the two girls before them were thinking. And the unsure expression Mio and Maria were wearing made it that much easier to figure out what they were thinking. Eventually, Rias was the one to break the silence.
"Mom, Dad, Mio and Maria would like to know..." Rias began to speak for her two younger cousins.
"It's okay, Rias-Nee." Maria interrupted. "We both think it would be better if one of us were the ones to ask about it."
Mio nodded her head in agreement as she looked at Rias with gratitude in her eyes. Then, when she noticed Rias was smiling at her, she turned her head away quickly with a blush on her face. Seeing that, Maria giggled and everyone else could not help but smile. Eventually, Mio took a deep breath then turned toward Zeoticus and Venelana.
"If... If it wouldn't cause too much trouble, could you tell us why our father... was exiled from House Gremory?" Mio asked nervously.
Although Mio felt no attachment to Wilber, she did acknowledge that he was her father. Maria on the other hand was quite curious. She had grown up with Wilber and was very curious about why he had been exiled.
"Honestly, it was a simple... well maybe not so simple difference in ideals." Zeoticus said as he looked out the window at the Underworld's purple sky. "During the Devil Civil War, a little over five hundred years ago, every devil had to choose a side."
"The Gremory House as a whole chose to follow the rebels who were led by our first son, Rias older brother, and your cousin, Sirzechs Gremory." Venelana continued from where Zeoticus left off. "Everyone except for your father, Wilber."
"Wilber thought we were betraying the original Lucifer, who gave birth to the Devil race with his wife, Lilith." Zeoticus continued. "And that led to an argument that could not be solved peacefully. Eventually, Wilber was exiled. I had to exile my own brother because of a political dispute."
Seeing the painful expression on Zeoticus face, the room fell silent. Eventually, Zeoticus was able to continue his story.
"Even though I was the youngest of my father's three children, I became the Head of the House for the simple reason that I was the most powerful." Zeoticus said. "That, of course, left my elder brother more than a little upset. He then started going against me at every turn. And I think that is what led to him siding with the old Satans."
After that, everyone understood the circumstances behind Wilber's exile. However, Rias was interested in something else.
"You mentioned that you were the youngest of three." Rias said curiously. "You mentioned Uncle Wilber, but what about your other sibling?"
"That would be my older sister, Sapphire." Zeoticus replied. "She was Wilber's younger twin sister."
"And you have no idea where she is?" Mio asked, also curious about another family member she had no idea of.
"Not at all." Zeoticus replied. "After Wilber was exiled, she claimed she understood why I did it, but she could not agree. Then, she left on her own."
After that, the room fell silent for a third time. This time, Venelana was the one who broke the silence.
*Clap!*
Venelana clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention. And when she got it, she opened her mouth to speak. But before she could, Maria interrupted.
"Oh! James-Nii does that, too." Maria said energetically. "Did he pick that up from you, Auntie Venelana?"
Hearing that, Zeoticus, Rias, Akeno, Koneko, Yuuto, and Gasper all did their best to hide their laughter. At the same time, Venelana's upper lip twitched.
"Ahem. Yes, James picked up that habit from me." Venelana said, trying to maintain her calm.
However, that was the last straw for Zeoticus. He could no longer hold back and began to laugh uproariously. Shortly after Zeoticus, the others also began to laugh while Venelana wore a helpless expression. After the laughter died down, Venelana was finally able to say what she wanted to say.
"Anyway, I'm sure you know that the seven young devils who have reached maturity in time for this year's Meeting of Young Devils will have their first taste of the [Rating Games] in an official capacity." Venelana said.
Seeing that the topic had changed to something serious, all the young devils listened carefully to what Venelana had to say.
"Well, if you know that, then I think we should complete the introduction of the new members of Rias' peerage." Venelana continued. "Then, you need to meet with Azazel so that you can begin your training."
Nodding in agreement, Rias proceeded to introduce Xenovia, who had never been to the Underworld in the past. Then, after a bit more small talk, Rias led her peerage to the backyard to speak with Azazel. When they arrived, they found Azazel relaxing in the backyard under a parasol, sipping tea.
"Well, that took longer than I expected." Azazel said after putting down his teacup. "If you had taken much longer, I would have left."
"Sorry for the wait, Azazel-Sensei." Rias said nonchalantly. "Anyway, we're ready to train. So, what do you have for us?"
"Straight to the point, huh?" Azazel said while reaching into his briefcase. "Not that I mind, though. These are personalized training plans that I've made for each of you. We may have to do some tweaking since I've never actually seen any of you fight."
As Azazel spoke, he pulled out a stack of documents and handed one to each member of Rias peerage. As they received the training plans, each of them read its contents.
"Well, it's obvious you've never seen us fight." Rias said as she placed the plan, she received onto the table Azazel was sitting at. "First things first, I would bet that some of us have better energy control than you do, Azazel-Sensei. So, although energy control is important, it should not be the main point of our training."
"Interesting." Azazel said as he looked over the young devils in front of him. "If you don't mind, could you show me the control exercise you use?"
"Hold on, let me ask." Rias said as she created a magic circle in her fingers.
After creating the magic circle, Rias raised it to her ear. Then, after a few moments, the communication circle connected to its recipient.
"{*Pant* *Pant* Hey, Ri Ri, what's up?}" James asked from the other side of the communication magic circle.
"Azazel-Sensei wanted to see the training method for energy control we use." Rias said, explaining the situation to James. "Is it alright if we show it to him?"
"Why is she asking for James' permission?" Azazel asked Akeno who showed clear annoyance that he was talking to her.
"Because James created it." Akeno said in a harsh tone. "Now, please don't talk to me unless it's necessary."
"I guess you're still not over the thing with your father." Azazel said to himself quietly.
"Okay, James said it was fine." Rias said as she dispelled the communication magic circle. "Akeno, if you would?"
"Okay, Rias." Akeno replied. Then, she summoned a large bowl and conjured enough water to fill it.
"What are you supposed to do with a bowl of water?" Azazel asked curiously.
"This." Ria said as she coated her hand in demonic energy.
Then, with her energy coated hand, Rias plunged her hand into the bowl. To Azazel's surprise, she did not even cause a ripple on the water's surface. Then, Rias swirled her hand around in the water. When she pulled it out, she was holding a ball of water. Then, she casually threw it at a tree in the yard. The ball of water maintained its shape until it hit the tree. Then, she wiped her hand on the document that had her training plan written on it to show that her hand was completely dry.
Seeing that, Azazel's eyes almost popped out of his eye sockets.
"How?" Azazel asked subconsciously. "What kind of fine energy control is that? Or maybe it was a spell? No, I would have felt the activation of a water manipulation spell."
"Akeno, Koneko, Yuuto, Gasper, and I are capable of what you just saw." Rias said. Then she pointed at Issei and Asia and continued. "Issei and Asia can coat their entire hand and swirl the water without getting wet. Asia is really talented in energy control. She's only been working on it for three months."
Hearing that, Azazel was astonished.
"What about those three?" Azazel asked while pointing at Mio, Maria, and Xenovia.
"Mio can coat four fingers and dip them without getting wet, Maria can do three, and Xenovia can do three as well." Rias said while puffing her chest. "My new members are also quite talented, they've only been working on it for a month, or so."
"Okay, so your energy control exercise is better than whatever I came up with." Azazel said without seeming to be bothered. "But what about the rest of it?"
"I can already control my fallen angel powers." Akeno said dryly.
"And I can use [Senjutsu] and [Touki] with no problem." Koneko replied.
"I can hold the [Balance Breaker] state for about twenty hours while sparring with James-Senpai." Yuuto said.
"I... I... Can use [Forbidden Balor View] with no problem after... Master Scathach sealed it." Gasper said nervously.
"Hold on, why would Scathach seal your [Sacred Gear]?" Azazel asked with surprise in his tone.
"Because according to her, Balor is sealed in the [Forbidden Balor View]." Rias replied.
"What the hell was Dad thinking?" Azazel asked rhetorically. "Never mind that, it's not important. What about the rest of you?"
"I still haven't unlocked my [Balance Breaker]" Issei said embarrassedly.
"[You're not strong enough to handle it for any worthwhile amount of time.]" Skiadrum said in a way that everyone could hear him. "Just worry about raising your strength for now.]"
"And that's why." Issei said.
"Was that... Skiadrum... The Shadow Dragon King?" Azazel asked.
"It sure was." Issei said with a smile.
"And what about you?" Azazel asked while looking toward Asia.
"I can heal from a distance." Asia said with a smile. "But the healing can be intercepted since Ican only heal with a beam of healing energy for now. James-Senpai said that when I could throw the water around, I should be able to heal remotely."
"Mio and Maria follow the same training as either me or Koneko, for the most part." Rias said. "And Xenovia trains with Yuuto."
"Why am I even here?" Azazel asked. "Well, I guess I don't have anything to teach you all. But I think the training partner I got for Issei would be helpful."
"Who is that?" Rias asked curiously.
As she finished, a shadow fell over the backyard of the estate. When everyone looked up, they saw a large western dragon with dark purple scales.
"Tannin, the Blaze Meteor Dragon." Azazel said with a smile.
Tannin is one of the former Dragon Kings. He is a gigantic western dragon. Apart from his lower body, specifically his belly, the inner portions of his long tail and legs, that are beige in color, most of Tannin's body is covered in dark purple, draconic scales. Tannin also has a triangular head with yellow horns, a pair of large, keen red eyes with lavender sclera, and serrated yet sharp canine teeth. He also has claws with long sharp, yellow nails, on his hands, and large bat-like wings with rigid tips. Additionally, he wears black armored pauldrons that extend down to his arms and a loincloth decorated with metallic accessories.
"[Oh, if it isn't Tannin]" Skiadrum said in surprise.
"Skiadrum? I thought you were dead." Tannin said with surprise in his tone.
"[Oh, I'm dead, alright.]" Skiadrum said with anger. "[That crazy bitch Tiamat killed me.]"
"Well, we'll have plenty of time to talk about that while I train with this kid." Tannin said with a laugh.
"[That's true.]" Skiadrum agreed.
"Huh, don't I get a say in this?" Issei asked with fear in his tone.
Ignoring Issei, Tannin reached down and picked him up with one of his gigantic claws. Then, he rose into the air.
"I'll make sure he's back in time for the Meeting of Young Devils." Tannin said. Then, he flew away from the Gremory Estate at high speed.
"Somebody~~~~~~~~! Save me~~~~~~~~~!" Issei's shout could be heard from far into the distance.
Watching Tannin disappear into the distance, everyone eventually turned back to Azazel.
"Well, I'm sure Issei will be fine." Azazel said with a shrug. "I think it's time you all got to your training. I'm sure you want to be as strong as you can by the time you start participating in the [Rating Games]."
Nodding in agreement, everyone put Issei out of their mind and went on with their training.