Battles in the Underworld

Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.

While the battles raged on in the Human World, there were battles of a much larger scale going on in the Underworld. While Asia was on standby for emergencies like Scathach faced in her battle with Gilgamesh, the rest of Rias' peerage was facing off against those who attacked the Gremory Territory. Sona's peerage was in a similar situation to protect the Sitri territory, as well.

The rest of James' peerages were also participating in the defense of the Underworld, scattered around the different battlefields. For example, Akua, Kahlua, Tatsuya, and Miyuki were all dispatched to Lilith. While Akua and Kahlua were each sent to one side of the city, Tatsuya and Miyuki were sent to the third. And on the last side, Ravel and her peerage were the team sent to defend it along with the army.

"Kokoa, left!" Ravel shouted as she shot a pillar of her Phenex flames at an enemy that was closing in on Kokoa from the right.

Meanwhile, Kokoa ducked under the spell from the enemy Ravel had just warned her about. Then, with graceful footwork, she closed the distance with that foe. A moment later, she swung the sword in her hand at the enemy she had just approached.

*Clang!*

Though her slash had been blocked, Kokoa did not slow down in the slightest. Instead, she used the counterforce from her attack being blocked to spin around her current foe, dodging an incoming fireball in the process before willing Kou to transform into a pair of short swords and stabbing her new weapons into her opponent's neck and heart from behind.

A moment later, a pillar of Phenex flames shot past Kokoa's right ear and engulfed the devil that was trying to sneak up on her.

"Come on, Ravel, you're making my hair curl up." Kokoa said with a whine. "Can't you be more careful."

"So, would you rather have a spear stabbed into your back?" Ravel replied as she fired a barrage of fire balls at a crowd of incoming enemies. "If so, I can wait until I have a shot that doesn't affect your hair."

As Ravel spoke, one of Leonardo's monsters stepped between her and one of the enemy devils who tried to sneak up on her, dying in the process. A moment later, Kou, in the shape of a throwing knife whizzed past Ravel's head, cutting off a strand of hair as it was buried in the same devil's throat.

"Thanks for the assist." Ravel said, not even bothering with her hair that had been cut.

Unlike Kokoa, this was not Ravel's first time in a real combat situation. Even though they were only during her brother's [Rating Games], Ravel did have some experience fighting on chaotic battlefields, though they were much smaller in scale. So, she found it much easier to not be distracted by little things like the status of her hair.

On top of that, due to the regeneration she inherited from her bloodline, she was much less wary of incoming attacks than Kokoa was. Even so, she was still unscratched during the battle that had been raging on outside of Lilith.

Underworld, Sitri Territory, Sitri Estate.

Like every other important location in the Sitri Territory, the Sitri Estate was also under attack. While most of her peerage was defending the hospital under Tsubaki's command, Sona, Bennia, and Rossweisse were defending the Sitri Estate along with the Sitri Territories soldiers.

While Bennia hopped from battlefield to battlefield draining the lifeforce from every enemy she managed to cut with her scythe, Sona and Rossweisse each stood on a high vantage point and rained down magic spells on the attacking army like a pair of turrets.

Unfortunately, since they were doing so much damage, they quickly became two of the high priority targets for the attackers.

"Rossweisse, you have to be more careful." Sona said as she directed one of the water dragons she had created to defend Rossweisse from a sneak attack.

{"I know, and thanks."} Rossweisse replied through the earpiece everyone in Sona's peerage was wearing. {"But there are just too many of them."}

"*Sigh* I know." Sona said with a bit of annoyance in her tone. "I don't' even know where Rizevim found all these people who would help him. They aren't even all from the same race. In fact, most of them aren't even devils."

As Sona was ranting and firing water projectiles at the enemy forces, she did not notice an enemy who had approached her through the shadows.

{"Sona! Behind you!"} Rossweisse's panicked scream sounded through Sona's earpiece.

Unfortunately, Rossweisse's warning came a bit too late. Without the time to even turn around, Sona fired a powerful, high-pressure jet of water behind her, hoping to take out one more enemy before she fell.

*Ting!*

However, even after she heard the grunt of pain that resulted from the assassin having a large hole blown through the right side of his chest, Sona had yet to feel any pain. When she took a moment to look behind her, she saw a head of long, flowing pale blue hair disappearing from her field of view, while the dagger that was about to stab through her heart fell harmlessly to the roof she was standing on.

While Sona was quietly thanking Tiamat for her assistance, Tiamat had returned to her own vantage point that allowed her to overlook the whole Sitri Territory. While she watched over Sona and the members of her peerage, she could not help but complain about the unfairness of the situation.

"Damn that Great Red…" Tiamat muttered as she distanced herself from Sona. "Because of her, I'm forced to work like this without receiving any treasures for the next hundred years. She's such a heartless abomination."

Feeling a chill crawl up her spine after her statement, Tiamat chose to ignore it for now. Even though she knew that Great Red had somehow heard her insult, she would not allow the beating that she would undoubtedly receive for her disrespectful statement keep her from performing her assigned task, protecting Sona's peerage during critical situations, flawlessly.

Underworld, Gremory Territory, Gremory Estate.

Like Tiamat, Crom Cruach had been assigned to protect Rias and her peerage in the same way. However, he had not been forced to act as of now. And that was leaving him rather irritated. As the battle crazed dragon that he was, it was almost torture to have to watch the ongoing battle without participating. Still, as an honorable, Evil Dragon… A rather oxymoronic self-proclaimed title… Crom Cruach performed his task dutifully.

"[Shadow Dragon's Roar]!" Issei shouted as he fired a breath attack at a group of incoming enemies.

Watching the enemies he attacked flying away, Issei couldn't help but smile in glee as he sank into a shadow to find his next victim.

"Hell fucking yeah!" Issei shouted while traveling between shadows. "[Dragon Slayer Magic] fucking rocks."

"[Of course, it does you idiot.]" Skiadrum replied. "[It was created by dragons, after all.]"

"But why did you take so long to teach it to me?" Issei asked in a complaining tone. "I could have been this bad ass much sooner if you had."

"[Shut up, you ungrateful brat.]" Skiadrum replied. "[If I did that, you could have ended up like Acnologia or Irene. Meaning, you would have turned into a dragon.]"

Before Issei could ask his next question, he fell silent as he popped out of a shadow behind a youkai who was trying to sneak attack Mio.

"[Shadow Dragon's Slash]." Issei muttered as he ripped the youkai into several pieces with his bare hands.

Looking over her shoulder after being splattered with blood, Mio's face first distorted with disgust when she saw that Issei had saved her. However, before she could lash out at him like she usually does, she turned her head back toward the battlefield.

"Thank you… " Mio muttered through gritted teeth.

"Don't mention it." Issei replied as he sank back into the shadows.

"[Looks like she still hates you. Haha.]" Skiadrum said with an amused chuckle.

"But I haven't done anything since Asia and I confirmed our relationship." Issei replied in a baffled tone.

"[If silently staring at her breasts rather than shouting about them counts as doing nothing, then you're right.]" Skiadrum said disdainfully.

Meanwhile, Rias had seen the entire exchange between Issei and Mio. And she liked what she saw.

"They've both grown up quite a bit." Rias said with a smile.

"I guess getting a boyfriend or a girlfriend can do that, Fufufu." Akeno said while covering her mouth elegantly with one hand while using the other to rain down [Holy Lightning on an enemy devil. "I mean, it did wonders for you, Rias."

As Rias fired a barrage of thin beams of her [Power of Destruction] that resembled Frieza's [Death Beam] from her right index finger, she could not help smiling wryly at the thought of how she used to act when it came to James.

However, as the battle raged on, an aura that caused everyone on the battlefield to freeze for a moment appeared. While Crom Cruach thought he would finally get a chance to intervene in the ongoing war, one of the individuals who had remained in the mansion in case of an emergency was also alerted by this aura.

"*Sigh* So he managed to escape during the chaos, huh?" Grayfia said as she dried her hands on her apron. "I guess this fight was inevitable, wasn't it?"

A moment later, Grayfia calmly began walking toward the main entrance of the Gremory Estate. As she did, she began flaring her own demonic energy, pushing back the pressure the soldiers of the Gremory House were feeling and causinga certain dragon to click his tongue in dissatisfaction.

Just as she reached the front doors of the estate, Grayfia ran into her current [King], Venelana Gremory. Curtseying politely, Grayfia only stopped her steps for a moment before she continued toward the source of the aura that had washed over the estate.

"Be careful out there." Venelana said with a smile. "I have no doubt that you will win, Grayfia. But if you come back too injured, Millicas will worry."

Allowing a small smile to grace her lips, Grayfia did not stop as she pulled the large doors to the estate open.

"Yes, Ma'am, I'll keep that in mind." Grayfia replied as she extended her wings and shot off toward the source of the aura.

A few moments later, high in the Underworld's purple sky, Grayfia ran into a silver-haired, red-eyed man who shared quite a few facial features with er.

"Brother, had you just stayed in prison, this could have been avoided." Grayfia said calmly as she looked at her brother's disheveled state.

"Grayfia, my Grayfia…" Grayfia's brother, Euclid Lucifuge, muttered as he looked at his sister with an unhealthy obsession. "Now that I'm here and that fake is not, I can free you from his brainwashing. Then, we can be together forever. Just like we were meant to be."

"Although I am no longer married to Sirzechs, I have no intention of going anywhere with you." Grayfia said without changing her expression. "Instead, I will be taking you back to your cell. So, please make this easy on both of us and come with me peacefully."

Hearing the beginning of Grayfia's response, Euclid could not help but smile brightly. However, as she continued, his smile began to slowly vanish. Eventually, as Grayfia's words ended, Euclid's face was twisted in fury.

"It looks like you have not been freed from that fake's influence!" Euclid shouted hysterically. "In that case, I will have to take you by force. Then, I can slowly remove the brainwashing. After that---"

As Euclid continued to ramble, his expression of rage turned into one with lewd intentions. Seeing that expression, Grayfia's indifferent expression morphed into one of disappointment mixed with a bit of disgust. Then, she vanished from her spot in a burst of speed. A moment later, she reappeared in front of her brother with her right knee buried in his abdomen.

"Gah!" Euclid groaned as he spat a mouthful of blood.

Unfortunately for Euclid, Grayfia had truly had enough of her brother's delusions. Ever since she had seen how her brother thought of her when James captured him, she had been put off by it. So, she decided to use the opportunity in front of her to vent a bit of her dissatisfaction.

Following up the knee strike, Grayfia kicked Euclid I the back of his right knee with her left leg, resulting in a sickening crunch that seemed to ring out over the entire battlefield. Then, she launched a right palm strike that most-likely dislocated his jaw. After that, Grayfia threw a flurry of palm strikes and kicks that would have completely broken any being below the peak of the ultimate-rank.

In the end, Euclid's unconscious body fell from the sky and crashed into the ground a few moments later. Though he was still alive, it was clear that even with his natural regeneration as a devil, he would be unable to live without assistance for centuries, maybe even millennia, if he did not receive medical attention.

Meanwhile, Grayfia looked down at her brother with a refreshed feeling. Between the mess with Sirzechs, her divorce, and the whole issue with Euclid and the way he felt about her, Grayfia had been feeling quite a bit of stress that she hid away behind her mask of stoicism. However, after venting her pent-up emotions, she felt better than she had in a very long time.

"I'll restrain Euclid then return to the estate." Grayfia said to herself while still looking down at her brother's beaten and broken body. "I wouldn't want Millicas to worry, after all."