Reunion

The Sandpits

Back in the cavern, a red teleportation circle emerged from the ground. Appearing out of it was a handsome young man with shoulder-length long red hair. He wore a suit of silver armor with spiked shoulder plates and a black mantle covering his form. This was the man rumored to be the strongest Satan, the Crimson Satan Sirzechs Lucifer; he is also Ria Gremory's older brother.

Next to him was a silver-haired maid with red eyes and back-length silver hair that features a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends, while the rest was let down ending in twin braids. She wore a blue French maid outfit that declared her position to the world. This was his wife and personal maid, the Strongest Queen Grayfia Lucifuge.

Looking into the clearing, their eyes widened in horror. Not at the evidence of barbarous acts, but at the implications of them. They had been around for a long time and had seen many things far worse than this, but never had they seen such a gross violation of the peace treaty than this in recent years. The implications were clear. The odd part of it was the fact that someone actually had one of his summoning tags. To summon a Satan was no simple feat. They had to find out who it was.

Grayfia pulled out her phone and started sending for backup, not needing her master's explicit orders to do so. It was clear that this scene needed to be examined by their most trusted team of forensic investigators. Looking to the side, it was clear that they also had a body to interrogate in the form of a corpse.

Narrowing his eyes, Sirzechs looked around.

"Do you have any ideas Grayfia?" In response, she tilted her head.

"Honestly, my first suspect would be someone rather sensitive to the devil faction" He sighed.

"I guess you're right. There's only one devil in recent memory that has an unhealthy obsession with holy maidens and the demonic energy signature of the Astoroth house is littered all over this place." She nodded.

"My guess is that he never expected to get caught. Based on our current coordinates, we're in a small village in the land of Sloth. It would make sense that he wouldn't expect to get caught here. Even if he was, who would be able to report him. There aren't many people who can contact a Satan and most devils wouldn't want to risk their skins to conduct the investigation. Frankly, he was just unlucky that whoever found this had your summoning tag" The Satan nodded.

'But who would have been able to call us' he thought as he looked around. When he saw the tag used to summon them, his eyes shone with excitement. 'it's her. This is her tag and this demonic energy definitely resembles her signature. It's a little different but I would put my money on this being Ria's signature.'

"Grayfia…." He whispered, tears pooling in his eyes.

"Yes Mast…." She paused as she followed his line of site, seeing the tag, her eyes widened in realization.

"Let's complete this investigation fast. Then we'll investigate the area. She couldn't have gotten far. Based on the scene in front of us. That corpse is only an hour old." Sirzechs resolutely stated as he began walking towards the maidens.

Nodding Grayfia began to follow him, but stopped. She looked at the corpse, eyes narrowed. 'From his remnant energy, he was an ultimate class devil and there doesn't seem to be signs of a struggle beyond his wounds laced with trace amounts of power of destruction. This fight ending quickly and easily. It wasn't even much of a match'. She thought as she walked toward the it.

'Assuming she's the one who did this, time has been very good to her skills, though I believe that should be a given considering where it appears she's been this past decade. I'm looking forward to seeing her progress'.

Miam Temple (2 hours later)

Following the trail of demonic energy and the directions of those in this small town, the two devils tracked Rias down to this temple. It sounds like she entered this temple about an hour ago. The odd thing was that going down to the level where she's currently located should've been impossible if the local priestesses were to be believed.

That's another odd thing. They weren't aware religions were practiced in the underworld, but from the looks of it, these ruins came from an age long since passed and the priestesses were simply fulfilling a form of ancestor worship. Walking down the stairs, they arrived at what appeared to be a transparent barrier. Behind it was a glowing blue cocoon composed of shining cerulean blue thread. Slowly the thread appeared to be taking on a more violet hue with black flakes bleeding into certain threads. Unfortunately, the barrier seemed to block their senses.

"Crimson Satan" a voice boomed in their minds.

"Who is this!" Grayfia shouted, taking a defensive position in front of her master.

A hand went out and blocked her before she did anything rash. "Grayfia calm down. We need to approach this cautiously. If I were a betting man, Rias is likely encased in that cocoon" with that said, he turned toward the altar. "Who are you and what have you done with Rias?" his voice firmly asked the mysterious presence.

"Who I am is unimportant. I will cease to exist in a weeks' time. What is important is that young Pandemos is currently accepting my inheritance. She has passed my assessment for passing on my legacy. It will take a week for the process to be complete though." Eyebrows raised Sirzechs had a hard time believing what he was hearing.

'This sounds odd. I've heard of these types of inheritances from dead or dying gods, but the criteria is always extreme. What could she have done to meet his requirements'?

Unlike what most would expect, he didn't doubt that what the voice said was true. He can feel the residual divinity in the air and though he can't identify the exact nature of the entity before him, he can the being's intentions resonate through his energy. As the inheritor of mantle of lies and schemes, he has a near prophetic mastery of these concepts that allows him to see the true intentions of even beings skilled in deceit such as the Norse god Loki.

"Grayfia, please keep watch over this sanctuary. This will be your top priority over the next week, while we wait for this process to be finished. Based on my understanding of the situation, acting to prevent what's already happening would only hurt Rias at this point. We'll deal with the consequences after the fact". Grayfia nodded and began setting up wards to act as detection mechanisms and deterrents for trouble. After explaining his insight into the situation, he ignited his teleportation circle and disappeared to handle his responsibilities regarding the holy maiden incident. He needed to bring in Adjuka.

Miam Temple (One Week Later)

A tremble ripped through the temple. Looking up, Grayfia noticed the barrier shattering. Suddenly, a tide of Satan-class power washed over her. Her eyes darting over to the cocoon that appeared to be unraveling.

What appeared before her shook her to her core. The little girl she had once known had changed. Waist-length flowing cerulean hair with loose bangs covering her forehead and the sides of her face; upon her temples, two thin blade-like horns curve toward the sky. She appeared to be 18 years old with ruby red eyes, and a buxom figure. Upon her form is a violet sleeveless kimono top with a black short-sleeved haori, black short shorts, thigh-high stockings, and black toeless-combat shoes.

She had certainly grown up….and changed if her hair, horns, and eyes were any indication. What really shocked her though was the power she emitted.

'While she has certainly benefitted from this arrangement, she would have already had to have been ultimate class for her body to withstand this level of power'. As she was contemplating, three tomoe-like marks spinning in a circle appeared on Ria's right hand. With their appearance, Ria's power level fell back to the middle ultimate level, clearly sealed in what appeared to be a triple-layered restriction. Probably for the best given the uproar that it would cause for a new Satan class to appear.

Slowly Ria's eyes regained their clarity. 'Well that was interesting' She had spent a week grasping the fundamentals of her new divinity and had quickly applied a seal on herself, so she could get used to the increased levels of energy. From inside herself, she felt the embryonic form of a true form, the proof a super devil. It seemed like she would catch up and exceed her brother in very little time. Smiling to herself, she looked up…..and sighed.

'I knew she would be here, but it really is a little disappointing that I have to deal with this now.' She thought to herself as she prepared to speak.

"It's been a while Grayfia".

"It has indeed mistress" Grayfia replied stoically, though her eyes reflected the gratitude she was feeling for being reunited with the lost princess.

"I'm not your mistress anymore. I don't even go by the name Gremory anymore. I left the family to create my own destiny. I don't need their burdens to help the devil society proper". Grayfia's eyes widened.

"Changing your last name won't change who you or your family are. You have responsibilities to fulfill. Running away doesn't solve anything; it just makes things worse" Rias shook her head.

"Then I will just crush those problems. Where before I was a victim of my family's whims; now I can shatter the binds that they have over me. I've heard of this marriage that's being held without my consent or presence and I will not stand for it! Either Riser will forfeit his bid or he will die by right of combat". She stated with narrowed eyes.

Grayfia didn't like what she was hearing. This would be a disaster. Death matches were perfectly legal in this situation, but would shatter the glue that currently holds the two houses together. Their relationship would fall apart the second Riser's last breath leaves his lungs.

"You can't do that; it would ruin everything your family has worked hard to build. One of house Gremory's strongest allies, gone in one stroke."

"That's your business. If you seek to control my destiny without seeking the best outcome for all parties, then I will do so as well. I will take back my freedom of choice with an olive branch or with blood. It doesn't matter which".

She had to tell Sirzechs. This could be bad and there's nothing they could do to stop it. Just as they didn't have the right to stop Riser's due to the marriage contract, so too didn't they have the right to stop Rias due to the underworld's laws involving marriage contracts. It would be seen as favoritism towards the Gremory house. It would be more damaging than just annulling the contract all together. They had to prepare. A storm was coming.