First Show Of Power

Shou was driving him and Yuuji back to Yuuji's home after they captured Rias's familiar, who was now laid unconscious in the trunk of the car, his body tied with a rope. Then, Shou abruptly stopped the car, as he saw Erika standing by the entrance of Yuuji's home.

When he was about to start going back, Erika said:

"Shou Ichinose, don't you even think of running away, or you'll regret it greatly..." Erika said in a threatening tone, narrowing her eyes. Shou gulped some saliva, parked the car, and then stepped out of the car, and said:

"Erika-Chan! It's so good to see you! You look as beautiful as ever!" Shou said in a cheerful tone

"It is good to see you, Erika. Where is Mike?" Yuuji said as he took the familiar out of the trunk

"You too. Mike is already inside. As I know him, he probably finished unpacking and connected his console to your T.V. Whose familiar is it?" Erika asked, never taking her eyes off Shou

"Gremory's. Well, I'll leave you two alone, as I know you need some time alone. If you decide to beat him up, please do it in the training ground. I don't want the neighborhood to be damaged" Yuuji said and entered the house. As he entered the living room, he saw Mike and Kate playing in some kind of a fighting video game, not that he cared about which one.

He approached them and said:

"It's been a while, Mike"

"Not now, Yuuji. I need to concentrate" said Mike

"Of course you do! Because I'm beating your ass!!!" Kate exclaimed

"We'll see about that!!" Mike said

"Kate, where is the fallen angel?"

"She told me everything she knew, so I already sent her back. I'll tell you everything after I'll destroy Mike!!!"

"Well, we have another captive that needs some punishment, so after you finish this game, I want you to punish her, Mike, and Kate will tell me what the fallen angel told her. The captive will wait for you in your room, Mike" Yuuji said and left the two to play.

After he put the familiar in Mike's room, he went to his room, and then approached his desk, and took a crystal ball that was on it. He then put his magic power into the ball, and the ball glowed and then showed a picture of some kind of lab. In the lab, was a slim and tall woman, with shoulder-length black hair, and golden eyes. She wore a white lab coat, with a short violet skirt, and black stockings.

"Oh, Yuuji? It is rare for you to talk to me through the crystal ball. Did something happened?" the woman said with a surprised expression

"I just wanted to let you know that we are finally starting to move. I want you to be ready to open the gate. Where is Manami?"

"She's out, buying groceries. So you're making your move? Didn't your mother forced you to agree that you'll do it only after graduation?"

"A good opportunity revealed itself, so I've decided to do it sooner"

"I see. You know what I need so I could open the gate, don't you?" the woman said with a serious expression

"Don't worry, I'll get it. We already have seven of them, and I can already guess where the other three are, or to be more accurate, who has them. Tell Manami I said hi"

"Sure, I'll tell her"

"I'll talk to you soon, Merlin"

"I'll look forward to it..." Merlin said with a smirk, and Yuuji laid down the crystal ball, and the picture of the lab and Merlin disappeared.

~~~ Time Skip ~~~

~~~ With Rias ~~~

Rias was worried about her familiar. It's been three days since she sent it to observe Yuuji, but it never came back. In those three days, Rias was able to get a new peerage member, Asia Argento, a nun who has the Sacred Gear, Twilight Healing. She reincarnated her after a fight against the fallen angels when it was revealed that the Sacred Gear Issei had, was none other than the Longinus, Boosted Gear.

Aside from her familiar, Rias had something else to worry about. Yesterday, she received a call from Grayfia, who told her that Riser would be visiting her today, something Rias didn't look forward to. He was supposed to get here soon, so Rias started to get ready for the headache.

~~~ Time Skip ~~~

~~~ With Yuuji ~~~

Yuuji and Shou were in front of the ORC club room, located in the old school building. By their side, was Rias's familiar, now in its human form, tied in a rope. After continuous beating from Mike for the last three days, and with no way to heal, the familiar's condition wasn't good. As they stood in front of the club room, they could sense other people aside from the club members, but they were expecting it, as Shou felt them teleporting, as he was constantly observing Rias's actions from a distance.

However, there was one person, stronger by far than any of the other occupants of the room, that they didn't expect to be there, but by their powerful aura, they assumed that it was a devil at the peak of Ultimate class.

Except for the Ultimate-Class devil, they knew the identity of the other people, as Riser Phoenix and his peerage. They knew that, because Yuuji sensed a familiar, which was a phoenix, observing the ORC club room multiple time, and he could sense the same power coming from the people inside, and because they knew that Riser has arrived, they chose this time to return Rias's familiar to her.

They planned to use the arrogance and pride of Riser Phoenix, to make him challenge them to a battle, that will be broadcasted to the whole devil population, and they'll defeat him, and show their power. Shou was supposed to taunt Riser and hurt his pride, and then Riser would challenge them.

However, the appearance of the Ultimate-Class devil, who was probably there to make sure that nothing goes wrong, could prove problematic for them, in the case that the devil will decide to confront them by themselves. It's not like they were afraid of losing, but the whole point of their plan, was to show their power in the fight against Riser, to surprise him and the devil population, but if they'll fight the Ultimate-Class devil, they'll have to show their power in the fight, and the element of surprise will be destroyed.

"Should we go in?" Shou asked Yuuji

"This will be the only time in which Riser Phoenix will be here, so we have no choice but to go in"

"Then, after you, Mr. Leader..." Shou said with a teasing smirk, to which Yuuji just ignored, and opened the doors loudly, and said:

"I warned you what will happen if you'll follow me around, Gremory..." Yuuji said and threw the familiar to the floor in front of him. Yuuji then proceeded to look at the occupants of the room, and especially at the Ultimate-Class devil. He saw the ORC club members, a blond young man, who he assumed was Riser, and a group of girls, which he assumed were Riser's peerage/harem, and then his eyes landed on a silver-haired young woman, who was the Ultimate-Class devil. She wore a blue and white French maid outfit.

From his knowledge about the devils and Rias, Yuuji assumed that the woman in front of him was Grayfia Lucifuge, the Strongest Queen, and Sirzechs Lucifer's Queen and wife, who was also looking at him, and they both stared at each other until Rias said:

"What did you do to her!?" she asked and run to her familiar

"I told you that I won't be merciful the next time I find one of your servants follow me around. And it includes familiars"

"You know what a familiar is? Then-" Rias said with a surprised tone

"Rias, Who are these young men, and what is he talking about?" asked Grayfia, narrowing her eyes at Rias

"This is Yuuji Hayama, a classmate of mine. I suspected that he has a Sacred Gear, so I ordered my familiar to follow him, but I don't know who the blond guy is..." Rias said

"Don't forget that the loli followed him too. Not to mention, that even after he told you that he doesn't want to come to your clubroom, you still sent someone else to ask him, and when he asked you to stop following him around, you didn't comply and sent this familiar to follow him, so we decided to punish her for your ignorance" said Shou

"And who are you might be?" asked Grayfia

"My name is Shou Ichinose. It's a pleasure to meet the wife of the current Lucifer. Anyway, as I was saying, that's not all you did, Gremory. You also decided to let Yuuji die and handed him a leaflet by this very familiar, so you could reincarnate him as your servant, and it was all to kick this asshole's ass" Shou said and gestured at Riser

"She did what!?" Grayfia asked, and looked at Rias with anger

"What did you call me, insect?" Riser asked Shou, and at that moment, even if only faintly, Grayfia could feel that Shou put up a barrier. However, she was the only one who felt it, and she could feel that it wasn't a regular barrier.

"What? You don't know what an asshole is? High-Class devils are lamer than I thought..."

"How dare you insult Riser! Mira!" Riser said, and Mira launched at Shou, swinging her staff at him, only for Shou to snap his fingers and the staff disappeared from Mira's hands and appeared behind Riser, and the staff moved by its own and hit Riser in the ass, causing Riser to shout in pain and hold his behind, and then Shou burst out in laughter. Issei also laughed loudly, and even some of Riser's peerage giggled. Even Koneko showed a rare smile.

"You..." Riser said as he looked at Shou with anger

"How dare you disrespect me like that!!??" Riser shouted and launched himself at Shou, and cocked his fist back, and just when he was about to punch Shou, he disappeared. All of the devils were confused as to where Riser disappeared. Grayfia was the first one to realize, as she saw Yuuji's arm in front of Shou, his fist directed to the side, so she followed the direction which it was directed to, and saw a hole in the wall, in the shape of Riser.

"Well then. I believe that now that I have returned your familiar, you understand not to bother me anymore. We will take our leave now..." Yuuji said, and after taking one last glance at Grayfia, Yuuji and Shou left...