~Proving Worth~

The Circle of Violence, the seventh circle of Hell, is a realm wide crucible of an endless, bloody warfare between demons of various tribes and clans, with ferocity and bloodlust that would more than justify the circle's name. Though infighting is a common theme among the demons of the Dark Kingdom, the demons in this particular circle thrive on constant destruction and death more than any other. This unbridled, murderous craving is the reason why this very circle spawned multitudes of demonic legions over the eons, bred for war against their eternal enemy, the angels of Heaven. And it is here where the mightiest of demon lords emerge to lead them, bathed in blood of rivals with same ambitions.

During the events in the Underworld over weeks that passed, a behemoth of a demon fully clad in spiked armor started to take a name for himself, killing warlords across the circle and beyond and massing an army under his banner. Currently, the demon lord pulverized one legion soldier with his warhammer, then he smashed another to his right before he grabbed a third one by his head. The poor demon was squirming like a writhing worm, trying to set himself free of the massive demon's iron grip, but the armored demon then yanked his head clean from his body, along with his entire spine, leaving the rest of the body to limply fall on the ground.

"Lord Nebiros. I apologize for the intrusion."

A familiar, silvery voice drew the demon lord's attention, now known as Nebiros. The massive demon glanced to his left and almost immediately did he recognize the newcomer with a scowling sound beneath his helmet, that demon being no one else but Abraxis.

"What is it meddler? Speak quickly." Nebiros said in deep, growling, almost metallic tone through his helmet, still gripping the legion soldier's head in his left hand, while the right hand gripped his warhammer.

"The horsemen have been divided my lord, and their recent squabble have weakened the devils' defenses. Even now our forces invade the devils within their very borders, weakening them further." Abraxis said in his usual, courteous tone while having an amused smirk on his face.

"Then the time has come, for the legions of Hell to finally rise, and crush those maggots who spit of the glory of demonkind!" Nebiros proclaimed darkly as he gazed at the tens of thousands of demons below him, a mix of various warriors, flying beasts, hulking monsters and engines of war marching in one direction. "My armies will scour the Underworld of the plague that the rejects have infected it with. And once that blight in our history has been erased, others will be a simple nuisance to deal with. Fallen angels, angels of Michael's ilk, the beastmen, even the gods themselves that dwell in humanity's domain will burn in the fires of the Dark Kingdom!" He bellowed before he promptly pulverized the dead soldier's head, letting its spine drop on the ground.

"And what of the horsemen? They are divided, but still formidable." Abraxis asked curiously as he glanced at the giant demon lord.

"They will be mine to deal with, no one but me will have the glory of finally eliminating the vaunted enforcers of the Charred Council." Nebiros said sternly as he eagerly gripped his warhammer.

Abraxis said nothing as he merely looked down at thousands upon thousands of demons growling and bellowing as they continue their march.

"This will be a war to remember." Abraxis smirked.

"The only thing worth immortalizing is the heads of the Horsemen on the pike, along with those scum masquerading as humans." Nebiros growled darkly as his eyes blazed underneath his helmet's visor.


Meanwhile, in the realm of the Charred Council, Death stood beneath the iron gate leading to certain someone he'd like to see, but not before being greeted by a certain someone's Maker apprentice.

"Please Sir Horseman, come on in." A maker named Berrarris greeted the Reaper in, in respectful and courteous mannerism like before.

"Thank you." Death barely murmured in dry tone before he marched his way towards the only person he is in real need of having a conversation with right now.

"Greetings Death."

An all too familiar, deceptively soft, humble, dare say gentle voice spoke as Death glanced in the direction on the voice. The host emerged from the corridor as none other than the Keeper of Oblivion himself. A tall and broad figure clad in leather trousers, boots and vest similar to his apprentice Berrarris', his figure gaunt to the point of emaciation, paler than even Death. And yet, despite his appearance, his stance, his very presence exudes boundless strength, held in reserve for the precise moment where it might be needed. And unlike Death's bone white executioner's mask, the Keeper's mask was an angular slab of iron, featureless save for the narrow eye slits, and for the trails of corrosion that ran down from those hollows to create an image of eternal weeping. This is the servant of the Council that is feared far and wide across Creation as Death himself, if not more so. Death may be the Council's defender of Balance, but the Keeper was their magistrate, their jailer, and another, perhaps more terrifying executioner, for he is a creature who held the worst of possible fates in his hand, hence the title that he is known and feared for.

"It has been a long time since last you paid me a visit." The Keeper said in friendly tone.

"I have my reasons to visit you now." Death said in his usual, grim tone.

"You always do Death. I would be surprised if you came here for a simple visit." The Keeper joked a bit.

But then he noticed that Death completely ignored his laidback quip, looking down on the ground with an unusual look of guilt on his face, and an eerie silence permeated between the two most feared beings to have ever existed. In all the many hours that they spent talking about their burdens, the atrocities that both have committed, the weight of their responsibilities, and the guilt that formed from some of those atrocities, this is the first time that he ever sees Death to be so silent, so… defeated. The way he appears now it makes the Abomination Crisis look like a temporary sneezing fit by comparison.

"I have never seen you so morose my friend. What is it that troubles you?" The Keeper asked curiously.

"He knows Keeper." Death said in bitterness and self-loathing.

The Keeper bent his head slightly back in mildly surprised reaction. Having known about what Death did to War eons ago due to the horseman's own confession, he too much like Death wondered when that information would be revealed to the Reaper's youngest sibling. And it is a surprise that now of all times that revelation came to light.

"So, the truth has been revealed at long last." The Keeper said simply.

"Yes." Death said in barely audible tone as he sat down on one of the stairs leading towards the portal to Oblivion. Right now he wishes he could completely erase the events of that day at the necrotic homeworld of the Ravaiim, or at least to somehow go back in time and bend the events so that War wouldn't be shot by Black Mercy.

"And what do you intend to do, now that the rift has finally cracked between you and War?" The Keeper asked in serious, yet compassionate tone to his friend as he sat next to him.

"I was hoping you have a suggestion. Or two." Death said bitterly.

"I have never known you to rely on someone else to solve your problems Death. It is you yourself who always comes up with a solution." The Keeper said in curious and somewhat concerned tone.

Death said nothing as he silently looked at the Keeper, before he looked down again in utter contemplation, the self-loathing being all the more corrosive the longer he pondered on his crime.

"For the first time in countless centuries Keeper, I do not know what to do. I do not have a clue as to how am I going to redeem myself in War's eyes, how am I going to start doing so. I made that promise eons ago, from the moment I brought him back, but till this day, especially now, I still do not have the slightest idea as to how he would absolve me of that crime. And knowing War, he will blame me for it until the end of Creation itself." Death said in unusually morose tone as he clenched his fists in utter self-loathing, wishing he could throw himself through that gate to Oblivion right now, just so he could rid himself of the painful memories of that day.

"The road to redemption has ever been long and difficult Death. I would not count on his tolerance, let alone his trust anytime soon. Still, if I had brothers like you, I would not hesitate to at least try." The Keeper said in serious, yet friendly tone.

"Easier said than done." Death said in grim and bitter tone.

"Such is the case with most things in life. But you are a man of action, never the one to sit here and eat yourself from the inside at the mistakes you made over the eons. If so, you would have certainly lost all sense of sanity by now, just as I struggle to maintain my own during my duties. Be that man now, just like you were before time and again. Because it is only through action that you may take that path of redemption." The Keeper stated in serious and encouraging tone.

"How enlightening." Death said in blunt and sardonic tone as he looked at the Keeper. The ancient entity couldn't help but chuckle a bit in amusement, having being more than used to Death's grim, sardonic and dry demeanor.

"You asked for my suggestion after all, and I have given it to you." The Keeper said simply.

Death huffed mirthlessly through his nose before he again looked down on the ground, heavily contemplating as to what his next move will be.


Back in the Underworld, though the skirmish between War and Death was mercifully brief, their cataclysmic brawl did not go unnoticed, and it certainly wasn't without unintended consequences. Prior to Fury's efforts to contain a colossal, destructive power caused by the collision between the two of the Four Horsemen, the waves of power that managed to flood far and wide outside the battlefield caused fierce storms that tore at the wilderness and cities throughout the Gremory territory and beyond, along with tearing open large fissures, some that swallowed portions of settlements in varying degrees of success. Fortunately for the resident devils, the land itself within the territory remained relatively intact, but after the battle was settled, what followed was chaos and panic in almost every settlement across the said borders. Riots, murder and desertion ensued, either to the renegades of the Khaos Brigade or the vile forces of Hell, an acts that threaten to severely compromise the civil order the devil hierarchy managed to maintain thus far. And in Sirzech's royal council, the devil nobles were just as befuddled as the commoners themselves, loudly bickering and barking at each other over how to handle this situation, and ruing the day they allied with the Four Horsemen.

"I knew it would come to this!"

"Allying with the Horsemen has been a foolish decision from the start!"

"This is what happens when you make allies with the Council's enforcers!"

"Their very presence portends nothing but doom for our people!"

"Such is the folly of the excessive compassion the Gremories tend to extol!"

These outraged sentences among many were thrown across the room, both from nobles of the Gremory clan and ambassadors of other houses like Bael, Agares and Astaroth.

"ENOUGH!" Sirzechs barked loudly, finally silencing the commotion in the room and drawing everyone's attention. "Whatever the cause may be for such an explosive outburst between the horsemen, the Gremory family will deal with the situation. This catastrophe occurred in their domain, and it is the Gremories themselves that will deal with it accordingly." He stated sternly as he gazed at each noble and ambassador present.

"Be that as it may, the damage is already done. The Khaos Brigade made full use of the confusion to sow dissention in the ranks of our troops and turn most of the civilians against us, filled with stories that we are incapable to maintain order and stability within our very borders, and that we have allied with a chaotic force that are the Four Horsemen. Worse still is the spreading word of demon cults revealing themselves in many settlements and converting our people to be more pawns for their demon masters." One of the male Gremory nobles noted.

"Word has spread of this catastrophe like wildfire even beyond your borders your grace. The domains of Bael, Agares and Astaroth have also been affected. The soldiers are doing all they can to maintain order without making the pacification more bloody than it already is." A female Agares ambassador said in frustrated, yet respectful tone.

"Then that will be our immediately priority, to bring order to our cities before the demons and terrorists cause any more damage." Sirzechs commanded sternly.

"That is not the only present concern my lord." Another of the male Gremory nobles spoke with as much respect as possible towards his king. "Some if not most of the nobles already have disagreements about our alliance with the Council's enforcers, as some have pointed out in this very room. And their recent blunder had more than proven that they are a force that can easily tear the Underworld apart if they are provoked even slightly, and us with it. I may be as blunt as to speak for most of the nobles present, but we may consider breaking the pact between the devils and the horsemen."

"Out of the question. It is only recently that we have made a pact with them, and the devils will not be the ones who will break them." Sirzechs said sternly.

"Speak for yourself Crimson King." An Astaroth ambassador spoke seriously, drawing Sirzech's attention, along with his rising ire. "You may have been a representative for all the devils when you attended the Three Faction meeting, but when the Four Horsemen are to be considered, the trust of many devils regarding that alliance was as thin as gossamer. You and the Gremory household may not have the intention to split with the horsemen, but we will, for the good of our people."

"You will do no such thing." Sirzechs frowned in dead serious tone, and even his eyes started to glow with crimson, destruction energy the Gremory family is well known for. And that grim warning silenced the ambassador and put everyone else on edge, extremely cautious as to not provoke the devil king any further.

"As I've said before, we already have demonic incursions and terrorist attacks to deal with on a daily. The last thing we need is to make an enemy out of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, warriors who can pose far more of a threat than demons and traitors ever could even combined. And if their recent show of power is anything to go by, then breaking pacts with them now would most certainly incur their wrath, therefore ensuring the extinction of the devil society as we know it. So no one here will even consider breaking this alliance with them, no matter how detrimental it may be in a longrun. Am I clear?" Sirzechs said in serious, barely neutral tone.

And this time, none of the nobles and ambassadors present dared to speak a word. Some among the nobles and ambassadors were extremely tempted to argue further, judging by the frustrated look on their faces, but they bit their tongues as they noticed that right now, Sirzechs' attitude is exuding absolutely no nonsense aura right now.

"Not a word out of this is to leave this council. We will tell the public that the horsemen encountered a powerful champion among the Khaos Brigade, thus it lead to that destructive duel and their inevitable victory. Then we must proceed to restore order before we can form a counterattack. I can expect that the rest of you are in agreement about that at least. Dismissed." Sirzechs said in almost dead serious tone. That said, the gathered devils of high status slowly got up from their seats and were departing from the room.


Sometime later, Sirzechs is having a private meeting with Azazel and Michael.

"How did it even come to this? What could possibly have stirred War's rage so suddenly?" Sirzechs asked with folded arms in frustration and anxiety.

"I know he's not exactly the most chill of the riders between the Four, but even for him that was very abrupt. Something drastic must have occurred between the horsemen for them to start such a cataclysmic brawl." Azazel said in uncharacteristically serious voice, which slightly surprised Sirzechs and Michael. Despite his usual, laidback attitude, apparently even he is not without his own serious side.

"The damage is already done Azazel. Now we must struggle to maintain civil order, among fending off the demonic incursions and terrorist attacks of the Khaos Brigade." Sirzechs said grimly.

"Yeah, things got a lot more complicated." Azazel sighed a bit, at how things are really getting out of hand recently. "If you need any soldiers to help out, let me know. In the meantime I have to see if things are the same in the fallen angel borders."

"I have to return as well, to see if any of the angels used the opportunity of the confusion to assault the demons." Michael said seriously.

"Rather unexpected for your angels to attack the demons without your consent." Sirzechs said curiously.

"Unfortunately there are some within my ranks who are most eager to deliver justice on the demons, much like any other in the White City. This recent event only brought them more reasons to spill demon blood." Michael said seriously.

"Probably would have been a good thing if they asked you first." Azazel said bluntly.

"Do you need any assistance in bringing the runaway soldiers in?" Sirzechs asked.

"I appreciate the offer devil king, but for now I am capable of handing the situation by myself." Michael smiled warmly.

"Very well. We will reconvene again, hopefully in less chaotic circumstances." Sirzechs said seriously.

"Until next time then." Azazel waved goodbye as he and Michael magically dematerialized and teleported away from Sirzech's room, leaving him alone to ponder on his thoughts.

"Rias. I do hope that you are faring better than us right now." Sirzechs thought in slight worry as he looked outside his window.


Meanwhile, War wasted no time in starting with Rias' training as he instructed her to attack him however she sees fit, just to better understand her fighting style and skill with destruction magic. And she did, mostly by firing her signature destruction blasts at every angle above and below, while War either dodged or outright tanked her blasts without having a scratch on him. Although the training ground was damaged, the 'battle' between the two of them lasted only one short hour. Rias panted heavily and was sweating buckets as she locked her eyes at War, barely keeping her legs from collapsing from the sheer exhaustion of her constant bouts with the rider. War on the other hand simply remained perfectly still, looking about as fresh as he ever was even after taking all those direct hits from her destruction blasts, attacks that would have normally disintegrated any other lesser foe.

"Damn it all. I knew since we first met that War was far stronger by leaps and bounds, but this is insane." Rias thought seriously as she tried to catch her breath. "Look at him, all those attacks and he's still standing there so casually." Then she had a mental, monstrous and terrifying image of War's Chaos Form against the demons at the Rating Game against Riser, and the cataclysmic surge of power that she felt more than an hour ago, power so massive that could have only belonged to War himself. "I really am an idiot to think I can damage him even in a sparring match, let alone a real fight. Even if I were to train for a thousand years, it still wouldn't make a difference, not against him."

"You are exhausted, but you are still capable of putting up a fight. So get to it." War stated sternly.

War is clearly insane if he thinks she still has a fight in her at this point, but given his usual attitude he is not asking her to attack him. So, gathering what's left of her reserves of energy, she sprung her wings, took to the skies and started firing another large destruction blast straight towards the rider. War huffed through his nose in annoyance, at how utterly predictable her patterns of attack are. The rider brushed aside three destruction blasts, and when Rias readied her fourth, now larger blast, this time, having seen enough, War aimed his Abyssal Chain towards Rias and fired his spear-tipped chain at bullet speed. Rias was caught completely off guard by that maneuver, before she could even register the attack the spear-tipped chain impaled her left shoulder, making her scream in agony.

And in that instant, the determination that fueled her quickly diminished, and her body succumbed in pain and exhaustion as it limply fell down on the ground. When she did, Rias shouted in pain as War forcefully yanked the chain from her shoulder and retracted the chain back around War's wrist, while Rias gritted her teeth and held onto her shoulder wound, on the verge of crying from the immense amount of pain inflicted. War hissed a bit in annoyance as he predicted this outcome all too well, it was painfully apparent that Rias was in no condition to continue this fight any further. Hardly surprising though, like many soft people out there, especially those of noble birth, she had not been accustomed to the brutality of combat nearly as much as War and the other horsemen have. Or all other Nephilim for that matter, prior to their demise at Eden.

"Pathetic." War said coldly.

"I am not pathetic!" Rias shouted sadly through her fatigue and pain as she got up on her knees and bowed her head down, still holding her bleeding shoulder wound.

"Your performance thus far proves otherwise. The training has only just begun and you are already drained. From now on if you're not eating or sleeping, you're sparring with me. Got it?" War said sternly.

"But… that's so cruel." Rias said in cracked tone, gritting her teeth as she is still suppressing the urge to cry from the sheer magnitude of the agony she is forced to endure right now.

"Believe me, I can do much worse than this, and your enemies worse still. I intend to push you to utter brink of your strength and go further beyond it, because it is only then that you will improve your might. You have the potential to be as powerful as your brother, if not more so, but only if you choose to dedicate yourself fully to this training and treat every bout with me as a fight to the death. Now rise and come at me again." War said in cold, serious tone.

"I can't. I'm too exhausted. And I doubt this shoulder wound is making this better for me right now." Rias said as she frowned sadly, still bowing her head in defeat.

Suddenly War plunged his Chaoseater right in front of her, making her gasp and flinch backwards in jumpscare.

"I said, fight!" War gritted his teeth as he gripped the hilt of his greatsword, utterly disgusted by her total submission when she still has a fight to give.

Rias is baffled at how merciless War can be, be it as a warrior or an instructor. Here she is at the brink of passing out and he's still pushing her to go on an offensive, as if they have just begun their training session. Then again, she can only imagine what kind of brutal gauntlets the Four Horsemen endured over millennias of service to the Charred Council, so it's no wonder why he has this stern, never say die attitude about him, backed up by the ridiculous power attained during that time. Well, if he can endure such grueling trials, then so can she, determined as she was at the moment despite her exhausted and wounded state.

Slow and steady she mustered every fiber of her strength to prop herself up and rise on her feet, even though her legs were trembling so much they could give in any moment now. She certainly can't do a thing with her left arm, but she used her right hand to conjure another destruction blast and glare daggers at War. The rider stood perfectly still with the usual, serious look on his face, marginally satisfied that Rias continues to put up a fight as instructed. However, as Rias readied to throw another blast at the rider, the blast itself suddenly fizzled away, and Rias instinctively started to collapse on her knees and cough out a chunk of blood, her eyes narrowing and starting to lose consciousness.

"You reached your limit." War said flatly, something Rias didn't hear as she slowly collapsed on the ground, knocked unconscious.

As War looked at Rias' unconscious form with an almost disappointed expression, he pulled out a small, pocket sized, angelic looking device and clicked at the button. Almost on cue, a certain archangel and a blonde nun materialized behind him.

"Azrael." War said in neutral tone as he turned sideways and looked at the archangel.

"War." Azrael nodded in neutral, almost courteous tone.

Asia on the other hand immediately gasped in utter shock as she noticed the wounded, unconscious Rias.

"Rias! Rias! Are you okay?!" Asia cried out in worry and shock as she immediately ran to her side, quickly reaching her and kneeling next to her. "Don't worry, I'm going to heal you." She said as she formed the Twilight Healing rings and emanated a soothing, green light from them, starting the healing process.

"It would appear that you show no mercy even towards your pupils rider." Azrael said seriously as he hovered behind War.

"She is hardly my pupil archangel." War said in his usual, serious tone.

"And yet you chose to instruct her." Azrael said curiously.

"I have my reasons, none that should concern you." War almost growled before he glanced from Azrael to unconscious Rias, observing Asia's healing process. After a few moments of silence…

"A word of advice if you will." Azrael inquired.

"I do not recall asking for your advice to begin with." War said sternly, but the archangel remained undeterred.

"Yet it is an advice that I offer freely. Rias Gremory can be a powerful asset to your cause, but only if you do not pressure her too much too soon. Train her at a slow pace, as I have with Asia Argento. If you do, then she might improve as much as the child did thus far, perhaps even more." Azrael said in his usual tone that brims with wisdom as he gestured at Asia.

War said nothing as he again glanced from the archangel to Asia. Going easy on her? What a joke. None of the Nephilim were given that luxury, so why would he start with her? If they went easy on even one of their warriors, then their kind would not be able to ravage even a single world, let alone many that followed after the Ravaiim homeworld, and in turn become one of the most feared factions across the universe before their fated battle at Eden. Then again, in this particular instance at least, easing up on the intensity of his sparring matches with her might be a wiser course of action, especially since it is a day one of War's brutal training regime. And apparently Azrael was right, Asia's rate of healing has noticeably improved as she already healed Rias' body, as if he had never pierced her with his Abyssal Chain to begin with.

"I would also recommend that you do not use her as an outlet for your anger." Azrael said in now more serious tone. War sneered at the archangel almost instinctively as he looked at him, while Azrael had a serious look of his own, not intending to back down from the rider's death glare. "I do not know what the source of so much anger may be at this time, but I am merely saying that you do not use the devil as the means to vent your frustrations. Because at this rate, such an act would only guarantee her demise."

War said nothing as he merely gazed at the archangel in apparent contemplation. Curse the archangel and his perceptiveness. The way he looks at him now it's as if he knows every detail regarding his current anger, as if he too is aware of what Death had done that day, when in fact he is about as oblivious to the truth as everyone except for Death himself, and sadly War. By the Creator, even the very thought of what Death had done to him made his blood boil to no end, every time he feels like transforming into Chaos Form and tear everything apart. This time however, he would not give the archangel any indulgence by displaying any further forms of anger, not in front of him anyway.

"I will keep that in mind Azrael. Return to Argento's training for now, and leave the ruin princess to me." War said in serious and bitter tone as he looked back at Rias's unconscious form.

Azrael was tempted to ask for the cause of so much anger that practically radiates from War at this point, but since the rider is barely keeping his composure and the urge to kill everything on sight, Azrael merely nodded and teleported himself and Asia back to their own training grounds, leaving War and Rias alone.

When they left, War continued to gaze at Rias. Despite being healed by Asia, the fatigue still remained as Rias slept shut, at this point not even an eruption of a volcano would wake her up.

"Sleep well Gremory. When you wake, we continue your training." War thought before he turned around and departed.

The next two days that followed, Rias was put through a ringer as she fought with every ounce of her power. Again and again she would fire her destruction blasts at the rider, but almost every time War would ram through her blast and try to catch her, making Rias dodge him in panic. Then at one point War tried to punch her with his left gauntlet, but Rias barely dodged the deliberately sluggish punch as it slammed on the ground, creating a small crater in his wake. Afterwards Rias landed on the ground to catch her breath.

"Your attacks are too basic Gremory, against a superior foe it only serves to drain your energy until there is nothing left. Innovate with your powers, your capabilities are vastly higher than this!" War said sternly.

At another point during that period point she even tried to use her fists due to the lack of energy to utilize her destruction blasts, but that action went about as you might expect as War casually caught her head with his prosthetic gauntlet, making her muffle and squirm while War lifted her up as if she was a spoiled brat, which isnt far from the truth, given her origin and lifetime of luxury and comfort.

"Never engage your opponent in close combat. You are simply not suited for a direct approach." War said in blunt, slightly annoyed tone at the sheer futility of her foolish action.

In another instant during that time, Rias felt her shoulders hurt so much that she in one moment dropped her arms lifelessly, so she can rest them momentarily. But in that moment she gasped in shock and surprise when War suddenly pinned the Chaoseater on the left side of her neck, threatening to decapitate her.

"Never drop your guard devil. The moment you do, the fight is over." War said grimly.

In that moment, the adrenaline rush wore off as pain and fatigue gripped Rias' entire body, and she collapsed on her knees, panting heavily and sweating buckets as she tried to catch her breath.

"You have five minutes of rest, then we continue." War said bluntly as he sheathed Chaoseater on his back, turned around and walked away. When he did, Rias fell on her back, her body now officially paralyzed in that moment.

"This is ridiculous. I'll die by the end of the week if he keeps this up." Rias thought in completely baffled and tired tone as she panted heavily. Then she gritted her teeth and winced as her body momentarily contorted in sheer pain and fatigue. "Forget the end of the week, I think I'm dying right now." She thought as she continued to grunt and groan in pain, her body paralyzed from the effort to endure the momentary wave of agony coursing through her body.

"Get up! The training continues!" War suddenly called out sternly.

"What?! But it's only been three minutes!" Rias shouted inwardly as her eyes widened in shock.

"Rise up Gremory, the battle ends only if you are dead or unconscious." War said strictly as he looked down on Rias. Though given Rias' current predicament, dying might be mercy compared to this torture he calls 'training'.


Far away outside the Gremory territory, Fury sat at the edge of the cliff overlooking the Underworld's horizon, seemingly in thought. So much in fact that she was startled when Rampage bumped his snout behind her head and snorted.

"Rampage. Trying to cheer me up?" Fury smiled warmly before she caressed her steed's snout in affection. "I appreciate the effort, but at this point my mind is gripped by recent events." She said before she returned to gazing at the horizon in front of her, trying to put together the missing puzzle pieces in his mind, who are about as scattered as the tiny glass shards after the window is broken.

"Death has always been… a mystery to me." Fury finally spoke in contemplation. "Every time I think I finally understood his mind, he always does something that would make me question his motives, his true relationship between him and three of us. A cycle that has been repeated again and again in my own thoughts, over countless centuries that passed. It cannot be denied that he cares for us, that he would fight legions of angels and demons if it means we would continue to live. But after hearing from Death himself of what he did to War that day…"

In reply, Rampage snorted then kneed as if trying to say something to the rider, something that only Fury can understand.

"Treating us as tools?" Fury glanced momentarily at Rampage before she again looked forward towards the horizon. "It does makes you question if that was true after all this time, no different than the Council's point of view on us. I may have not been innocent in my own actions over the eons, but never would I allow myself to send either of them out there knowing that they would die."

This time Rampage remained silent as he only gazed at Fury. Then the horseman slowly got up from the ground.

"Enough with this sentimentality, any more of this and you might melt into shadows." Fury teased, and Rampage kneed loudly as in laughter, making Fury let out a muffled chuckle of amusement. "Let us go, we still have the rest of the Seven Deadly to imprison, before they cause more damage than they already did." She said in determination before she hoisted herself and saddled up, promptly turning Rampage around and riding towards the unknown.


At some point past midnight, Rias suddenly woke up, having slept very early after her exhausting bout with War. And when she did, she heard very faint, but seemingly loud echoes of angry grunts and sounds of swinging of heavy metal. Curious, Rias got up and looked in the direction of where the sounds were emanating from, along with the pleasant wind coming from the same path. For three nights straight she is having these pleasant winds blowing in her direction, but she didn't put any thought into it until she started hearing the said sounds from the same way as the wind, which is apparently not a natural occurrence. With curiosity rising in her mind she slowly walked in the said direction.

Eventually she noticed a familiar, bulky silhouette swinging his sword in place, and as she approached it, she noticed that it was none other than War himself, his angry grunts all the more apparent the closer she gets. When she was near enough, she gazed at War's back as the ancient warrior continued to wildly whip his weapon about in place, in all manner of swings and swipes. Despite not knowing War nearly as long as his brothers do, even with his back turned she could say with adequate certainty that she has never seen War this mad, at least not this much outside the battlefield. He was definitely furious at something, or someone, as if he was stabbed in the back by one of his siblings. It is a guesswork at the moment, but War definitely seemed like his trust had been betrayed, and he is apparently steaming out that backstab by visualizing the criminal in front of him and hacking him in many pieces over and over again. With that compassion in her heart, she slowly approached the rider. When she was about five meters away, War continued to swing his sword in place, not even aware that Rias approached him, lost in his own thoughts as he was.

"War?" Rias called out softly, but no response whatsoever as the rider continued to swing his greatsword. "War, stop!" She shouted louder, but War again completely ignored her. "STOP!" She shouted at the top of her lungs this time.

Surprisingly, War indeed ceased swinging his weapon, but his back was still turned as he merely straightened himself up.

"Go back to sleep." War said seriously.

"But War, i-"

"I said, go to sleep." War demanded in harsh and grim tone, apparently silencing Rias. And in that moment when he leaned forward and was about to swing Chaoseater again…

"No." Rias suddenly said, drawing War's attention. "I will not." She said in determination.

"Are you defying me Gremory?" War growled a bit in dead serious tone.

A wave of fear washed all over Rias' being, but despite this, she mustered her courage and stood defiantly against War, determined as she was to help him with his troubled mind.

"Yes. In this particular instance, I am." Rias frowned in hopeless determination.

Certainly not in a mood for any of her games, War slowly turned around and closed the distance between them. Once again a wave of fear paralyzed Rias' body as this mountain of a man was towering above her, again making it look like David vs Goliath situation between them.

"If you wish to live another day devil, back off." War threatened in low, dead serious tone, extremely tempted to cleave her in two right now, as if he already didn't had enough to be furious about at the moment. But despite that, Rias again mustered the immense amount of willpower to remain stoic, an unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object.

"No. I'm not moving an inch until you tell me what's making you so angry." Rias said in hopeless determination.

"That is none of your concern!" War exclaimed angrily.

"It's most definitely my concern War!" Rias shouted angrily, definitely not intending to back down now. "For all I know you might turn that sword on me to lash out your anger, all because someone else wronged you. And I don't want that!" Despite her defiance, War maintained his stoic presence, being as still as a statue, while Rias's frustrated face softened into that of compassion as she closed her eyes and placed a hand on her chest. "I know I'm a devil. I know that you don't trust me. And I doubt that you ever will at this point." She then looked at War with an almost sad look on her face. "But one chance. Just give me one chance to help you, even if it's simply talking. You helped me this far, no matter your motives, so let me help you."

After her plea the horseman and the devil gazed silently at each other for a few silent moments, War continuing to look at her stoically, while Rias had an expression that practically begged the rider to accept her help.

"You cannot help me Gremory. Especially not for this." War said seriously before he turned his back on Rias and readied his weapon again.

Rias couldn't help but sigh sadly a bit. This is exactly the response that she would have expected from War, but still she had a sliver of hope that he trusts her just enough to at least tell her what was troubling him so much.

"If you need to talk to someone, you know where to find me." Rias said with a gentle and compassionate smile.

"Noted. Now go." War said bluntly.

Having nothing left to say, War continued to swing Chaoseater at a random pattern of swings, swipes and thrusts in angry grunts, while Rias could only look at him in sympathy before she turned around and headed towards the campfire.

And in War's mind, now this wretch was in his thought process due to her incredulous behavior. Just what is with this woman and her sickening displays of compassion, towards him of all beings out there? She's clearly mad, her asinine attempts to gain War's attention is bordering on inane. And she's an even bigger idiot if she believes that he will open up to her of all people about his problems. He's a warrior through and through, completely immune on relying on someone to resolve his issues. Sure he had his emotional turmoils over the eons, most if not all based on anger and rage, but unlike that scarlet-haired wench he never, ever had this nagging urge to rely on someone else to ease his emotional tremors. Whatever doubts he had in his mind they are immediately erased by his resolute determination, which usually involved a gratuitous amount of slaughter until he reaches the individual who wronged him to begin with. He wishes he could have done the same with Death, but he knew well that another fight with his brother would last forever, which if it was at any other point in time he wouldn't mind at all if it means having his head on a pike.


The next day that followed, Rias tried her best to follow through War's brutal training session, for three hours she had been ducking, weaving and dashing about, firing her destruction blasts at the rider. War decided to go on the offensive this time, but he was sluggishly swinging Chaoseater at the devil with just enough speed to get a panicked reaction out of Rias for her to quickly dodge his blows. However, at one point during that time, War noticed that she is not putting as much effort into her blasts like she did before. And that's when he noticed that her mind is somewhere else right now and not on the battle at hand, which he couldn't help but be irritated by her complete lack of focus.

"Gremory." War suddenly called out, snapping Rias from her pondering. "You are distracted. That mistake will be the death of you on the battlefield."

Rias remained silent for a few moments as she realized that she put so much thought into War's plight that she completely strayed away from the present. But after last night she came to a realization, all this time she thought that War was being cruel for the sake of it, but when she saw his furious form she can say with adequate certainly that he had been definitely angered by someone, that his trust has been betrayed in some shape or form. And that is a mystery that she yearns to solve, for whatever twisted motive that grips her mind.

"I'm sorry, but I can't help but think of what made you so angry that night." Rias said simply.

"As I've said, none of your concern. What should concern you is your lack of noteworthy progress during your training." War said in frustration.

"I know. I promise I'll do my best, but only if you tell me why are you so angry." Rias insisted in compassionate tone.

"Anger and rage are a part of my being Gremory, such emotions are a given for me." War said simply.

"Not this time. There's more to it, but you won't admit it." Rias inquired stubbornly while still looking at War in concern.

There she is, with that stupid look of sympathy and compassion in her face. Why she is so persistent in focusing on his troubles rather than her training, the horseman will never understand. Though from what he had understood from the devils in his short time being in their company, the Gremory devils, along with the Sitris are the only households that treat their companions with compassion, as if there are a part of the family. So giving that into consideration, her compassionate side is a given. That and her ludicrous infatuation towards him, for Creator knows why that is the case. The most obvious answer would be that she is drawn to his incredible power, much like all the demons tend to be, like moths drawn to a flame. That said, from his experience in dealing with demons for such a long time, he still has his doubts about her, how she likely has an ulterior motive behind that veil of concern.

"As if I have to admit anything to you devil." War said bitterly.

Rias sighed in defeat at that. Clearly her words of compassion is not making a dent on the wall of absolute stoicism that is War, so she opted for a different approach.

"Then how about this. If you tell me what's making you so angry, then I promise that I'll give everything I have and more in this training." Rias said in more stoic and determined tone.

"Why are you so insistent? All this time I've treated you like any other demon out there, and yet you seek to aid me with my troubles?" War asked seriously as he frowned slightly in doubt.

"I don't know exactly, but as I've said last night, you've helped us this far, no matter what your true motives might be. So the least I can do is to hear you out what's troubling you so much." Rias said in determined, yet slightly compassionate tone.

War and Rias gazed at each other in silence, neither willing to back down in their silent clash of wills. In the end War sighed and grunted a bit in frustration. So be it. War will tell her of what was angering him so much in these last couple of days, if only so she can satisfy that curiosity of hers and finally focus on her training. The rider then turned Chaoseater and plunged the tip of the blade into the ground, startling Rias a bit.

"Very well. Listen close, because I will only say this once." War said sternly. Rias frowned slightly and nodded silently, being all ears.

"Many millennia ago, a catastrophe occurred that threatened all life across Creation. One setback after another, we were cornered by an angel that wielded an demonic weapon known as Black Mercy, a revolver capable of killing it's victims by mere contact. The plan was to escape the battlefield with the power source necessary to fuel the weapon and empower it even further. But Death deceived me."

War gritted his teeth at the last words as his eyes flared up in rage while looking down on the ground, clenching his fists in seething fury. Rias couldn't help but be frightened a bit as she backed away a step or two, fearing that in his rage War will turn into that monstrous, fiery demon like he did back against Riser. Fortunately War controlled his rage this time, since the rage for Death's crime is not as raw as it was in that moment when he realized the truth. After a few moments of dampening his fury, he continued.

"I believed at the time that I held that power source in my hand, so I escaped with all haste as far away from the angel as possible. But an escape from an angel is a difficult task on an open field, more so when it involved that accursed weapon, so it was inevitable that we were all killed then and there. And although Death brought my soul back from the Kingdom of the Dead, that still does not erase the crime he committed onto me. The truth of the matter is that my power source was a decoy, he sent me to my death while he escaped with a real canister, depriving the enemy of the resource they need, but also consigning me to the executioner's axe." War explained sternly, the tone of his voice laced with more and more layers of venom the further he went into details.

After hearing War's story, Rias could only look down in silence, processing this grim information. So that's what was making War so furious. Death tricked his own brother to his demise just so he can escape with some power source? Sure this Black Mercy sounds like a weapon that she would not dare face against, but there is absolutely no reason at all to send your own brother to die. Of course, what Rias doesn't realize is that War deliberately left out the details behind the event known as the Abomination Crisis, how the Black Mercy is actually a Grand Abomination, created by the Firstborns like Death with the remains of the race known as the Ravaiim and empowered with the blood of the same species, weapons when fully powered were capable of tearing whole worlds apart. But this was something that Rias has no need to know. Not now at any rate.

"Has you curiosity been satisfied now?" War said seriously.

"I… I had no idea." Rias said simply, still trying to fully comprehend War's story.

"Of course you didn't." War said bluntly, snapping Rias from her pondering and making her look at War in the eyes. "Very few beings know of this event, fewer still of the details that occurred during that time. So I ask you, without threat or demand, that you keep this to yourself." Having realized his story, Rias frowned in determination and nodded silently. "Now, it is time for you to make good on your promise, and increase your power and skill with magic for days to come."

"Yes. I'll train as hard as I can for the Rating Game ahead." Rias said in determination as she clenched her right fist.

"No." War said seriously, while Rias only looked at him in confusion. "This training is not meant for your meaningless battles against other devils. The battles to come after your fight with Sona Sitri will be far more intense than any Rating Game you will participate in. If you prove yourself when your training ends, you will be up to the challenge for battlefields far more lethal than any of your games would provide. Now steel yourself Gremory, the training continues."

"Right." Rias nodded.

During the next hour that passed, true to her word, Rias had begun to take War's instructions with utter conviction, firing her destruction blasts this time with killing intent. Good, maybe there is hope for this devil yet. While he's no spellcaster like his sister, in fact he despises the use of magic due to his up close and personal approach in combat, he is no stranger to its potent properties by any means. Though Fury would have been a far better instructor, he will do what he can to improve her power and skill all the same.

Alas, despite that, at one moment War managed to punch Rias lightly in the gut, making her puke out blood, and then he swung his Chaoseater and cut her left shoulder, making Rias scream in pain, grabbing the wounded shoulder on instinct. After that assault, Rias arched forward as she tried to endure the pain, like everytime she did in their previous sessions.

"A warrior is never too weak or too wounded to fight Gremory. Only in death does the battle end." War said sternly.

This time, to War's marginal surprise, determined to make good on her promise, Rias gritted her teeth, fighting through the pain as she clenched her fists and straightened herself, readying herself for another bout. Then she looked at War with a flash of destruction energy in her eyes, and an intense aura emanating around her in waves.

"Good." War said simply as he twirled Chaoseater and placed it in front of him.

Perhaps he might have been wrong about this particular devil. Given enough incentive and proper method of training, he might mold her into a powerful and ruthless battle mage, much like Fury, which is rather fitting considering she and Fury wield almost the same crimson power of destruction. Despite his misgivings for devils, and demons for that matter, he had to admit that Rias is really stubborn and determined. Almost as stubborn as Fury and himself, a quality that he can genuinely respect. In War's eyes, it is much more preferable for someone to fight till his dying breath than cower in fear and beg for their lives.


And so, for the next two weeks that passed, Rias, Issei, Kiba and Akeno continue their brutal training regimes with War and their chosen angel instructors, honing their skills and improving their powers and techniques that would make them more formidable than they themselves can imagine.

Currently, it was two days before the Rating Game against Sona Sitri, and the time has finally come to put the Gremory's training progress to the test, and where else to make a demonstration but on the battlefield. But before that can be done they must all gather first. While War and Rias were waiting for her retainers to arrive, the first to do so would be Issei on Tannin's back, with the massive dragon landing in front of the estate to drop the boy down.

"Greetings horseman!" Tannin said.

"Tannin." War said in neutral tone.

"Hey War, long time no see." Issei smiled as he waved his hand.

"Wish it was longer still in your case pervert." War said bluntly.

"Should've seen that one coming." Issei sighed before he looked at Rias. "How's it going president? I heard War himself trained you, must have been rough."

"Indeed it was, but it wasn't without results, that's for sure." Rias smiled.

"I'll be at the party on the eve of your game. We'll meet again there." Tannin said.

"Thanks again for everything old timer!" Issei smiled as he waved his hand again.

"Farewell." Tannin said before he took to the skies, flying back towards the Dragon Mountain.

"I assume that your training yielded adequate results Hyoudou?" War asked expectantly.

"Dude, that's an understatement. Tannin's training was tough as hell, but Death kicked it up from eleven to fifteen, no mercy on that guy." Issei smiled in humor as he rubbed his temples at the memory of the brutal traning over the past two weeks.

"As is to be expected from the Reaper Issei, mercy is not something he is usually known for." Rias smiled.

"Aint that the truth." Issei thought bitterly as he remembered all too well of Death's brutal and merciless moments, most notably his heartless decapitation of Koneko.

"Issei! War!" A young male voice called out, drawing the trio's attention.

"Yo, Kiba!" Issei greeted.

"Kiba, how wonderful to see you again." Rias smiled warmly.

"Likewise president." Kiba smiled respectfully before he turned towards… "Hey Issei. Wow, your body's looking pretty good." He said as he leaned closer and eyes his pecks in a disturbing way, at least in Issei's eyes.

"Dude, get your eyes off of me!" Issei said in disturbed tone, feeling nauseating gay vibes from Kiba right now with how he looked at his pecks.

"Relax, I was just going to say that you put on some real muscle." Kiba smiled.

"Issei! Kiba! Rias!" Another young, but female voice called out to them. Issei smiled brightly as that voice was Asia's, who was running towards Issei while Azrael hovered behind her.

"Hey there Asia! Boy am I glad to see you." Issei cheered happily.

"You have no idea how much I missed you Issei!" Asia cried out in sheer joy as she ran and hugged Issei.

"Yea, that much is apparent." Issei smiled as he hugged her back.

"Aww, seems you've completely neglected me Issei." Another female voice said suddenly in tease.

"Hey, Akeno!" Issei smiled.

"So wonderful to see you again everyone." Akeno smiled as Rias, Issei, Asia, Kiba grouped up.

"You seem to have a brutal training of your own Akeno." Rias smiled.

"Same can be said for you, I bet War roughed you up good during your sessions." Akeno smiled and narrowed her eyes mischievously.

"It was nothing like that Akeno!" Rias shouted as she blushed in embarrassment, while Akeno could only giggle in amusement.

"Azrael?" War said neutrally as the archangel approached the rider.

"We need to talk, in private." The archangel said before he started to hover away from the devils. War looked at Azrael in silence for a few moments, before he obliged by following him. Then they both stopped after making good distance from the Gremories.

"What is it Archangel?" War asked.

"Recently a group of my own soldiers have been attacked by a demonic warband of the Circle of Anger. Apparently they have discovered their hidden base of operations near the borders of the Gremory territory." Azrael said seriously.

"Were there any survivors?" War asked curiously.

"Two managed to escape, barely managing to reach our base before they succumbed to pain and fatigue." Azrael answered.

"Good. With their intelligence we will be able to find them and put a stop to their schemes, whatever they may be." War said in his usual, serious tone.

"We?" Azrael asked curiously.

"Yes." War said before he turned sideways and looked towards… "Myself and the Gremory devils."

"What do you intend to do with them horseman?" Azrael asked, curious if not concerned for whatever plan War has for them.

"To put the results of their training to the test." War said seriously before he glanced from the devils to Azrael. "I want those two survivors to be ready in one hour to guide us to this demonic base. The sooner we deal with them, the sooner we will prevent them from setting their plans into motion, if they haven't already."

"Understood." Azrael nodded before he disappeared in a flash of light.

When he did, War marched back towards the Gremory devils.

"War? What is it?" Rias asked curiously.

"You devils have one hour to refresh yourselves and suit up, the fruits of your training will be put to the test sooner than you think." War said seriously before he turned his back on them and was about to depart.

"Wait, where are we going?" Issei asked nervously.

"To battle Hyoudou." War said simply before he looked at him from the corner of his left eye. "Gather your strength until then." He said before he departed, leaving the devils alone.


An hour later, with the guidance of the two angels, War and the Gremory devils arrived at the location of where the demonic facility should be. But when they did, they noticed that the area is a simple valley with a mix of forests, natural stone pillars and desolate patches of land with fissures, nothing out of the ordinary in the Underworld.

"Through here horseman. The demons have erected a spell of concealment around their facility, keeping it active until they are ready to attack the devils in their domain." The first angel warned as he pointed to his left side.

"Expect a fierce assault as soon as you pass the barrier." The second angel warned as well.

"Very well. Return to Azrael and rest, you have done your part." War said in his usual, serious tone.

"Yes, horseman." The second angel nodded before both of the angels took to the skies and flew back towards Azrael.

"Advance." War said as he marched towards the field, followed moments later by Rias, Akeno, Issei and Kiba.

"Wait, I just noticed that Asia and Gasper aren't here. Should that archangel teleport them here by now?" Issei asked curiously.

"Death has taken the liberty to test the boy's resolve through a different trial of combat, since he is not yet ready to face an army of enemies without succumbing to his crippling fears." War said in serious and almost bitter tone. At this point, even speaking Death's name aloud brings back the memory of his crime every single time, but now was not the time to succumb to his anger and rage like he did previously. "As for Argento, Azrael requested for her to remain to complete her training. That said, expect no healing support for this battle. Any injuries you receive will remain until the end."

"I see." Rias said in slightly nervous tone before she glanced from War and looked forward. "So we have to make do with what powers and skill we have at our disposal."

"Precisely." War said simply before he entered the invisible field, followed by Rias, Issei, Akeno and Kiba.

When they did, the devils' eyes widened in surprise and shock as they noticed a gigantic crater in front of them, and within the crater was a massive, spiky complex, almost like a factory of a sort.

"It would appear that the demons made the most of their time in establishing their base of operations." War said simply as he gazed at the base below.

"Apparently so, their facility is massive." Rias said in more nervous tone as she also looked down.

"A war machine that fuels an entire demon host." War said as he scanned left and right at every corner of the base before he smirked slightly. "A perfect proving ground for you devils."

"You're not gonna fight with us?" Rias asked curiously, having a sense of déjà vu right now.

"Not this time." War said in his usual, serious tone before he turned sideways and lifted his right hand. "But we will keep contact using the magical devices that we communicated with against Riser Phenex. Each of you take one." He said before he gestured his right hand containing four tiny red orbs, small enough to fit into one's ear. The four devils obliged as each of them took one communication orb and placed them in their ear.

"Azazel once said that your Rating Games are deep, rich battles, requiring tactics and strategies on the fly. Those are words of a fool who had never exposed himself to insurmountable odds." War said seriously before he pointed at the demonic base below. "This is where the true battlefield is, no rules to constrain you and no one to rescue you from certain demise, where the winner can only be decided by the complete annihilation of the other side." He then fully turned his front to the four devils. "It is here, in this bloody gauntlet where the strong are separated from the weak. And it is here that you will learn that in every battle there are but two words of consequence: victory or death."

"Yea, the way you put it sounds badass and all, but do we really have to fight to the death right after the brutal training you put us through?" Issei asked as he rubbed his temples, still feeling really sore after the intense training he endured with Tannin under Death.

"The only way to truly demonstrate the fruits of your training is to send you at the heart of the enemy operation. Only when the battle is joined, when it reaches its hardest point will your mettle and your powers be put to the test." War said seriously.

"But what if we fail to hold our own against them, if we need your help?" Akeno asked in curious and slightly nervous tone to the battle at hand.

"See to it that doesn't come to that devil." War said in slightly disgusted tone, unnerving the devils a bit. "If you force me to enter the fray for the sole purpose of aiding you, then you only prove your worthlessness in the longrun. You must learn to fight alone and give your all to achieve victory. It is a sign of weakness when you constantly have to rely on others to win your battles, without earning a single victory to your name."

During his speech, suddenly two Minion Goreclaws were crawling from the crater wall behind War and climbed up slowly, creeping onto the rider like a predator about to pounce on it's prey, something that Rias noticed.

"War, behind you!" Rias shouted in worry, but it was too late as the two demonic beasts leapt directly towards the horseman and were spinning forward like a sawblade. But War saw them coming long before Rias could utter her warning as he pulled out Chaoseater and instantly cleaved both Minions in two.

And when he glanced left and right, he noticed several other Minion Goreclaws scaling up the walls and prowling around the devils, quickly surrounding them. Then about two dozen Phantom Soldiers emerged from the black portals on the ground, emerging behind the devils and even on both of their flanks to accompany the Minion Goreclaws.

"Ambush!" Kiba shouted in warning as he pulled out his sword, while Rias readied her destruction blasts, Akeno her lightning attacks and Issei his Booster Gear.

[WELSH DRAGON, BALANCE BREAKER!] Ddraig proclaimed as Issei's Scale Mail Armor manifested.

The demons wasted no time as they charged at the devils, two Minion Goreclaws charged forward at the same time and spun forward like a sawblade, prompting Kiba to block the simultaneous assault as they shredded at his sword like the said sawblade before Kiba pushed them away. Issei charged forward and punched away four Goreclaws, before he charged forward using his jet pack onto two Phantom soldiers, grabbing their necks and drilling them through the ground. Rias and Akeno stood side by side before they started firing destruction and electricity attacks respectively. Rias fired a massive destruction blast forward, disintegrating almost dozen demons, while Akeno unleashed a chain lightning on the other about a dozen Phantom soldiers. Kiba went on the offensive as he used his speed to dash in a blur and effectively cut the rest of the Goreclaws and Phantom soldiers down, hacking them to pieces.

The ambush was thwarted with ridiculous ease thanks to their training, but then Rias noticed a singular demonic soldier fleeing the battlefield.

"He's getting away!" Rias shouted urgently.

"I got him!" Issei said as he was about to fire a Dragon Shot, but was interrupted when a spear-tipped chain zipped past him to his right. The spear tip pierced the chest of the Phantom from it's back before he was immediately pulled backwards towards War, allowing the rider to grab his neck as soon as he was in reach.

"War? What do you plan to do to him?" Rias asked curiously as the demon squirmed, trying to free from War's iron grip.

"To ready the battlefield for us." War said simply as he looked down at the massive demonic base before he promptly threw the poor demon, lobbing at fast speed down towards the facility as if he was shot with a catapult.

"Brutal." Issei said in slight amusement.

"Congratulations Issei, looks like you managed to attain your Balance Breaker for real this time." Rias smiled proudly.

"Thanks president. It wasn't easy, but the effort was totally worth it." Issei said as he pumped his left fist in pride, while Rias nodded silently in acknowledgement.

After a few moments down at the base, the Phantom soldier smashed into the center of the facility, alerting all the demons present. When they looked in the direction of where the corpse came from, high above the crater they saw a familiar silhouette that the demons quickly recognized.

"What?" The demonic overseer said before he looked up, along with dozens of demons near him. And when they did, even from a good distance they noticed…

"Horseman? Here?!" The overseer said in shock.

"And he's brought the traitorous mongrels with him." The Legion soldier growled in disgust.

"Then what are you staring at, you worthless dregs?! Move, kill them all!" The overseer barked to the demons around him, prompting them to move out and meet them in combat.

Back above to War and the devils, they heard that the demons have finally sounded horns, alerting the rest of the demons throughout the facility.

"Go now, devils of the house of Gremory, and do not hold anything back! Yours or theirs, blood will be spilled on this day!" War proclaimed sternly as he stood sideways and looked at the devils, like a commander rallying and sending his soldiers to battle.

"Right!" Rias, Akeno, Issei and Kiba said in unison before they sprung their devil wing and dashed airborne towards the demonic base, with Rias the last to take to the skies.

While Issei, Akeno and Kiba swooped down, Rias stopped momentarily and looked back at War. The rider gave her a silent, stoic nod of encouragement, an almost silent command to give them hell. Rias frowned in determination and nodded back to War before she looked down where the three devils dived towards and rushed to their side, determined not to fail War in their task.

Down below at the base, the demons on masse readied themselves for battle, taking their positions to eliminate the devils as soon as they land, while on the platforms, Legion spearthrowers, bombers and even a couple of Boltsplitters already started firing at the devils, a wave of fiery bullets and thrown weapons ready to strike their targets. Instinctively Rias formed a protective shield in the direction of the attack, while Akeno readied herself for a counterattack.

"Now bring out thunder!" Akeno shouted as she raised her hands above her head.

The storm clouds manifested above three of the Boltspitters and many of the spearthrowers and bombers on the platforms, and thunderbolts struck at the demons one group after another, making them scream in agony before their bodies crumpled and fell down from the platform from where they fired. Akeno can already see the fruits of her training. She put a minimal effort into those attacks and yet she easily eradicated a row of demons. Guess all that brutal training with Thaddeus paid off far more than she could have imagined, boosting her confidence in their victory to immense degree.

After Akeno's attack, Rias surrounded herself in an aura of destruction energy and bolted towards the ground like a crimson meteor. And like the said meteor she crashed into the ground, causing an explosion that blew away or outright killed dozens of demons in the vicinity, clearing the area for her comrades to land.

"Bad-ass!" Issei said in glee.

Issei and Kiba, along with Akeno quickly landed near Rias, and the four devils readied themselves as a horde of various types of demons were charging towards them. As the devils themselves they too charged at the horde of demons, determined to prove their worth to the red rider.

High above the base, the ground around War was already littered with demonic corpses. More bodies were lined up as War cleaved three of the demons in one strike, before he threw a Crossblade at the other five incoming demons, dismembering them all before the weapon returned to him, catching it as soon as it was near. Apparently as soon as the devils left, some of the demons were foolish enough to attack War, believing they could gain untold glory by having the horseman's head as a trophy. And they paid the price for that foolishness by being torn apart by War's legendary might. As soon as they were all killed, War sheathed his weapons and returned his attention to the battle below, and he can already tell that they are doing decently well thus far. But the assault has only just begun, this battle can go either way if these devils lose focus for even a moment.

"War, we have successfully cleared the way inside their base." Rias said to War through the communication orb in the rider's ear.

"Good. The foreman resides deep within the facility, take him down and the warband will disperse." War said to Rias through the communicator as well while Rias was blasting one demon after another.

"Understood." Rias said to War through the communicator again.

"Horseman!"

War heard a militaristic voice calling out to him. When the rider turned around to see who it was, he noticed that a group of angels made their way towards him through the invisible field, more and more emerging until about a hundred angels gathered up near the horseman. And from what War noticed, this is a group of veteran angels that arrived, judging by their more ornate armor and better crafted weaponry.

"Lord Azrael had sent us to aid you in assaulting the demonic base of operations. We will make them pay for the deaths of our comrades." The Angel Champion said sternly as he stood in front of the group and clenched his right fist in determination and vengeance.

"No." War said simply.

"What?" The angel champion said in shock and outrage, a reaction shared by the rest of the angels behind him.

"You will not go down there." War said sternly before he looked down towards the base. "This battle is for the devils alone to wage." He said as the clamor of battle can still be heard even above the base, along with occasional crimson and yellow explosions.

"You would deny us our vengeance on the demons?" The angel champion asked in dead serious tone as he closed in on War, his face dangerously close to the horseman's. But War remained perfectly still, not letting his sight from the battle below.

"I would have you surround this facility and cut off all the escape routes." War said before he locked his stone cold gaze at the champion's. And the moment they did, the angels can't help but shudder at the murderous gaze War sent their way. "Spill all the demon blood as you please, but you are to focus on preventing any demon from escaping. I will hold you responsible should even a single demon survive this battle." He said seriously.

"Understood. None of them will live to see the end of this day." The angel champion nodded in agreement.

"You will also forbid any of your soldiers from aiding the devils in their fight. Should any of them come to their aid, I will execute them myself." War said in dead serious tone. The champion was about to retort, but War gave him a dead serious, absolutely no nonsense look, meaning that it's probably for the best that he obeyed War's command rather than risk his wrath and taste his blade.

"Very well." The champion said reluctantly before he turned to his men. "You heard the horseman, spread out and cut off their escape routes!"

"Yes sir!" The group of angels said in unison before all of the angels took to the skies and flew in opposite directions around the crater, searching for all the possible escape routes the demons might use should they be on the losing side.

"Now Gremory, show me how much you improved. All of you." War thought as he again looked down at the battle below.

Back to the battle at hand, the four Gremory devils continued to press on towards the center of the facility, where the foreman himself resides. As a horde of demons charged at the devils, Rias blasted one demon after another in rapid fire with her destruction blasts, Akeno unleashed one lightning bolt and chain lightning after another, Kiba sliced through multiple demons left and right, dual wielding fire and ice sword while utilizing his speed as a knight, and Issei punched the defenders before he fired a Dragon Shot to his left, drilling through several demons before it exploded in the said direction, destroying the buildings around the area and killing many demons. But even with so many killed, many more continued to attack from all sides as the devils continue to advance.

"The demons are trying to overwhelm us with their numbers, don't let that happen no matter what!" Rias warned loudly to her servants.

"Right!" Issei, Akeno and Kiba nodded before they went on the offensive again, Issei attacking to the left, Akeno dashing to the right and Kiba charging forward.

Akeno tried out a new technique as she formed a lightning orb in front of her. When it was large enough, she was about to launch it forward, but then noticed how Issei was about to be smushed from behind by a large, armored demon with a huge warhammer. Issei also noticed a demon turning a large ballista to fire on the devil queen and impale her, so in that moment at the same time, Issei fired his Dragon Shot and Akeno unleashed her lightning orb, the two projectiles launched in each other's direction. Issei's Dragon Shot destroyed the ballista platform, while Akeno's lightning orb electrocuted the demon, along with other demons in its trajectory before it exploded with a crash of a thunderbolt, killing more demons in the vicinity.

"Nice move Akeno!" Issei cheered with a thumbs up.

"Thanks sweetie." Akeno giggled cutely and winked at Issei before she turned towards the demon horde with a sadistic, pleasured look on her face. "But that's not the only new thing I have learned during my training." She said as she licked her lips.

But in her moments of S&M trance, a Gholen scaled one of the demonic walls and leapt at surprising speed towards the devil queen.

"Akeno, look out!" Issei called out as he reached out his hand towards her.

But Akeno could only look sideways in surprise before Gholen grabbed her with his massive hands in his iron grip and then landed on the ground. When the beast did, it roared before he started to squeeze Akeno, making her scream in agony.

"Akeno!" Rias shouted in worry, but immediately after did she noticed another Legion Boltspitter firing his machine gun at her, along with bombers throwing their slags, prompting Rias to raise her magical shield to defend herself, but pinning her airborne.

"Ascalon!" Issei shouted as he charged forward like a rocket.

[BLADE!]

The blade of the sword extended from Issei's left gauntlet before he blitzed between Akeno and the Gholen like a blur. A moment later the demonic beast roared in agony as his massive hands were sliced clean off and fell down on the ground, but still gripping onto Akeno, and in that moment Issei punched the demon down into the narrow chasm below.

"Don't worry, I got ya!" Issei said as he sheathed Ascalon and gripped onto the sliced, massive hands. After a few moments of effort he started loosening its grip on Akeno, allowing the devil queen to breathe easier, albeit in pain.

However, another Gholen roared behind Issei and was about to grab Issei as well, but Issei reacted quickly as he stopped the demon beast's hands by its palms. But Issei underestimated it's strength as the Gholen was slowly starting to crush the devil pawn between his hands.

"No… you don't!" Issei gritted his teeth in defiance.

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]

[EXPLOSION!]

A green aura exploded around Issei, and sufficiently boosted he managed to slowly overpower the demonic beast before judo throwing him away down into the chasm. Then he didn't waste a moment as he freed Akeno completely and placed her on the ground while holding her semi bridal style.

"Akeno! Are you okay?!" Issei asked in worry. But Akeno said nothing as she tried to fight off the boneaching pain delivered by the Gholen's surprise attack.

Rias finally retaliated as she fired off a massive destruction blasts towards Legion Boltspitter and Bombers, disintegrating the wretches and destroying the platform where they stood. After that, Rias quickly swooped down towards Issei and Akeno.

"Akeno, can you fight?" Rias asked urgently.

"Of course, just a few moments of rest and I'll be as good as new." Akeno smiled faintly in pained tone with one eye open as she looked at Rias, trying to ease her worries, but to no avail, given her current condition.

Almost on cue, Rias heard a chorus of bloodthirsty roars and growls as another demon wave approached them from all directions.

"I think you need more than a few moments." Rias said ominously before she looked at Issei and Akeno. "We can't stay in place unless we plan to be overwhelmed. Issei, take her with you. And don't fall too far behind, Kiba and I will clear the way towards the foreman." She said seriously before she stood in front of them and conjured destruction energy in her palms.

"Right." Issei nodded before he scooped Akeno up bridal style. "Don't worry, I got ya."

"My hero." Akeno giggled cutely, but Issei was too distracted to notice by hordes of demons literally bent on killing them.

Realizing that the numbers of demons don't seem to diminish, Kiba created a massive demonic sword. Rias was rather confused by this action, since a lumbering greatsword like that would only serve to slow him down, which is a huge detriment for knights who rely on speed. But to her surprise, Kiba vanished in a blur and slaughtered more than a dozen demons in a split second.

"Impressive. It would appear that Kiba increased his strength during his training. Despite the size and weight of the sword that he created, it doesn't seem to diminish his speed at all." Rias thought in amazement before she smiled proudly. "Seems his trainer put him through a ringer as well as Akeno's instructor did. Well done Kiba, I'm very proud of your progress."

After that thought, Rias quickly reached Kiba's side and assisted him by firing her destruction blasts again, while Issei with Akeno in his arms kept up with them on foot. Eventually, after slicing and blasting through hundreds of demons…

"There! The gates!" Kiba shouted as he pointed to the doors leading towards the foreman.

"Take them out!" Rias shouted in command.

Kiba, Issei and Rias quickly reached the front of the gates and took their positions. Kiba sliced and diced through the demons on one side, while Rias blasted the demons on the other side. Issei on the other hand dropped Akeno behind Rias and Kiba and looked in the third direction towards the sky, and he noticed that two Rage Grappleclaws leapt from the nearby platforms and landed near them, letting out a beastly roar filled anger and murderous intent.

"Ah crap." Issei said bluntly before he looked at Akeno. "Sit tight, I'll be right back." He then dashed forward to make some distance from the three so those demon cats wouldn't get close to them, but as soon as he did the two Rage Grappleclaws charged.

"Dragon Shot!" Issei shouted as he fired another crimson ball of energy at the first red Grappleclaw.

The ball of energy the belly of the beast and sent it flying backwards, but the Rage Grappleclaw roared as it drilled it's sharp claws on the metal ground, sliding backwards before it stooped at the edge. At the same time, the second Rage Grappleclaw closed the distance between it and Issei and furiously slashed and swung it's claws and fists at the devil pawn. Issei was caught off his guard a bit as the demon beast was surprisingly fast, swinging and swiping furiously, so all he could do at the moment is duck and evade every blow while taking steps back. The second Rage Grappeclaw suddenly headbutted Issei with it's horns on his back, lifting him off the ground before the first Grappleclaw promptly smashed him down on the ground, the devil pawn bouncing off the ground before he fell down again.

"Ow." Issei grunted in pain before he slowly got up from the ground. "Damn, these suckers are even more vicious than those blue demon tigers we fought at the church." He thought as the two Rage Grappleclaws charged at him, but Issei jumped and glided above the two demons. "Then again, this is nothing compared to brutal training Death and Tannin put me through." He then landed behind them, while the Grappleclaws growled as they turned around and locked their gazes at Issei. "Credit where credit's due, Death and Tannin really know how to make someone stronger. Even when they hit me back there it didn't hurt nearly as much as it should have."

"What are you waiting for Issei?! Smash them already!" Rias shouted in frustration as she blasted apart one wave of demonic soldiers after another, phantom and legion soldiers alike.

"Got it! One boosted punch machine coming up!" Issei said as he took a boxing stance.

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]

The two Rage Grappleclaws roared as they charged at Issei again.

[EXPLOSION!]

A surge of accumulated power in his Boosted Gear imploded from within Issei again, augmenting his fighting abilities before the devil pawn promptly charged at the first Grappleclaw. When it was within reach, Issei ducked and avoided the demon beast's swipe before he punched the first Rage Grappleclaw to its gut, lifting it higher in the air. When he did, he grabbed its tail before he used it to smash the first Grappleclaw onto the second one, sending both of the demonic beasts flying backwards, rolling to the edge of the platform.

"Dragon shot!" Issei shouted as he fired another, but this time empowered ball of energy towards the two beasts. Both of the Grappleclaws were caught in the wake of the large blast and were sent flying all the way to the crater wall, perishing in the violent explosion that followed.

In those moments where Issei relished in his victory, Rias noticed another row of demons emerging from the platforms across the gate, aiming their weapons towards them. And what worried her the most are the strange, monstrous looking contraptions that look like cannons that are turning and aiming at them, ready to fire.

"Issei, switch, now!" Rias commanded strictly as she sprung her devil wings and dashed towards him.

Issei was confused by the sudden, angry demand, but when he looked to his left he saw why. Doing quickly as he was told, Issei took Rias' place as he proceeded to throw a flurry of punches at the approaching demons, while Rias took her position to where the devil pawn once stood. As Legion Boltspitters, Bombers and even demonic cannons opened fire, Rias conjured a magical shield on time and withstood another continuous barrage of projectiles from the demons. But where she felt the impact the most from all these projectiles is from the blasts coming from the maws of the demon cannons.

"I can definitely feel the impact from those cannons. What are those things?" Rias gritted her teeth as she struggled to maintain her shield.

"Hellcannons, a weapon far deadlier than a mere ballista, using the souls of their victims to fire powerful projectiles at both structures and foes alike. To think that these wretches managed to obtain one of those war machines. Still, were it not for your training, you would not had the power to conjure a shield strong enough to endure those blasts." War explained through the communicator.

"Maybe, but now I can't fight back and keep up the shield at the same time." Rias gritted her teeth in struggle.

"Remember your training Gremory. Keep observing your enemy, and you will know when the precise time is right for a counterattack. But make haste in eliminating the demons, it only gives the foreman more time to prepare himself for your arrival in his chamber. Not to mention that the longer the battle unfolds, the more drained of energy you will be to face him." War said sternly through the communicator again.

"Agreed. Time to end this." Rias frowned and gritted her teeth in utter determination.

"I'm with you Rias." A familiar voice suddenly said from behind her.

"Akeno." Rias said in slight surprise.

"Thanks for giving me time to recover." Akeno smiled to her friend before she frowned seriously as she looked at the demons attacking them. "On my mark, destroy those cannons, while I eliminate the demons with machine guns." Akeno said seriously as she charged her hands with lightning.

"Got it." Rias nodded before she glanced back at the demons, waiting for Akeno's cue.

Just as the Hellcannons were about to fire another destructive volley…

"Now!" Akeno shouted.

Rias quickly dropped her shield and fired two destruction blasts at the platform mounted Hellcannons, while Akeno conjured two thunder bolts from above two Legion Boltspitters, destroying the cannons and killing the large demons at the same time. But they didn't stop there as Rias unleashed a wave of destruction while Akeno utilized a chain lightning, killing all of the demons on both of the platforms, disintegrating into nothingness or electrified by Akeno's lightning.

Finally, after witnessing the advantage that the Gremory devils hold, the demons throughout the facility are making a run for it through their escape routes. But as they did, they found a battalion of vengeful angels eager to spill their blood, instructed to guard the escape passages per War's orders. And as soon as they were near, the angels charged and decimated the retreating demons with a vengeance, swords and halberds thrashing in close combat while Redemption Cannons rained fire on the demonic host.

At the same time, the demons stopped attacking and ran away on masse from the Gremory devils.

"Look, they're retreating!" Issei cheered as he raised his fist in victory.

"Good. That leaves only the foreman to deal with." A familiar, serious and stern voice suddenly said from behind them.

"War?" Rias said in slight surprise while War was walking towards the gate.

"Have you come to fight with us against their leader?" Kiba asked curiously.

"No." War said simply before he turned sideways and looked at the Gremory devils, who were lining up near him. "I simply arrived to take a closer look to the battle at hand. Make yourselves ready, the fight to come will truly put your training to the test."

Akeno suddenly grunted and gritted her teeth as a surge of intense pain coursed through her upper body, making her collapse on her knees.

"Akeno!" Rias exclaimed worryingly as she rushed to her best friend's side.

"Akeno, are you okay?" Issei too knelt close to her, but Akeno continued to grit her teeth, trying to endure the sudden surge of pain.

"Talk about pathetic. The real fight yet to start, and yet I barely have to strength to stand." Akeno said bitterly as she looked down on the ground.

"Such is the folly of lowering your guard Himejima. No matter how powerful you are, if you drop your guard for even a moment, it is all the enemy needs to crush you entirely." War said sternly.

"A lesson learned a little too late." Akeno smiled weakly to the rider in sarcastic manner, but War was hardly amused.

"If you do not have the strength to fight, then you should leave. You will be of no use to your comrades for the battle at hand as a broken corpse." War said seriously.

"No!" Akeno exclaimed seriously before she forcefully stood upright and looked at War. "I can fight. I recovered enough."

"Have you?" War asked skeptically.

"Yes. I'm ready, let's do it." Akeno said in determination.

A few silent moments followed as Akeno gazed at War. The red rider knew fully well that Akeno is not ready for the fight to come, damaged as her body is from the Gholen's iron grip, so to let her proceed with her foolish request will most likely seal her fate when she faces against the foreman. But apparently Akeno's eyes are filled with determination and thirst to prove herself, she doesn't intend on backing down. Good, that is something that War can respect. Spellcaster she may be, but she has a warrior's spirit, thus he will not deny her the desire to enter the fray. Besides, as previously mentioned, this assault is where the devils have to prove themselves, both to see the results of their training and how far these devils are willing to push themselves against their enemies to achieve victory. If they indeed prove themselves, then they might be ready for far more gruesome battles in the future, where nothing less than a never-say-die attitude will suffice on those battlefields.

"Very well." War said simply.

With nothing left to say, with a force of a bomb War punched the gates open. When he did, War and the devils noticed nothing but a circular platform within. Judging by the chains on four sides, it must be some kind of elevator, meant to lower them to where the foreman currently is. The group stood at the center of the platform, and indeed the platform itself started to lower down into the depths. It didn't take long before the elevator stopped, and the gates leading towards the foreman's chamber stood before them. But before the red rider would break it down like he did with the gate above, the gates started to open by itself, allowing War and the devils to enter the chamber. As they did, they noticed the foreman himself, standing at the other end of the room near the windows, overlooking whatever could be happening below him. And from what the rider noticed, that foreman is identified as one of the Legion Shieldbearers, an incredibly durable demons brandishing an enormous shield of bone and metal which gives them their name, with the cannon attached to the center of the shield capable of launching volatile fireballs.

Suddenly he raised his massive shield and aimed the cannon from the center of the shield directly at War and the Gremory devils. As soon as he did, the foreman blasted a large ball of fire from it. The devils were caught completely off guard by that maneuver, but thankfully War intervened by instinct as he simply grabbed Chaoseater from his back and cleaved the blast in two, the two fiery halves redirecting sideways and hitting the metal wall behind them. That's about the only help that the devils will get from him in this battle.

"Pity. I would not had the torture of looking at you mongrels if the red rider didn't intervene." The foreman said in slightly bitter tone.

"Then let us put you out of your misery demon, we will execute you ourselves." Rias said seriously, but the foreman merely chuckled in amusement.

"I'll enjoy incinerating the flesh from your bones scum." The foreman said grimly.

"You will find that their powers are not for trifles demon." War said seriously.

"So you say horseman. But let us see the magnitude of that power firsthand, shall we?" The foreman smirked confidently.

Then, two demonic, feline looking demons formed from the floor, hovering in air near the foreman. War identified those demons to be Geomancers, and only he at the moment knew exactly what came next.

"It is time devils, show me what you're all made of." War said seriously to the devils. Rias, Akeno, Issei and Kiba nodded seriously to the rider before the four devils ran forward, lining up and readying to fight the foreman and the two geomancers near him.

The geomancers lifted their hands above their heads as pink, dark energy formed in their hands. And in an instant, pink, spiky crystals erupted from behind the group, blocking their way out, jumpscaring the Gremory devils while War didn't even flinch, maintaining his gaze at the foreman even with the spikes dangerously close to impaling him from the back. Then a circular blizzard formed out of nowhere, surrounding the Gremory devils.

"What the… where did this blizzard come from?!" Rias shouted through the winds, trying to endure the ice storm much like Issei, Akeno and Kiba.

Outside the blizzard, four demonic magus' channeled the blizzard, determined to freeze the devils solid and leaving nothing but icy, shattered husks from them. Fortunately, noticing how the temperature was dropping rapidly to dangerous levels, Rias conjured a protective, circular barrier around them.

"Damn that was cold." Issei said as he shivered a bit.

"Thank you president." Kiba smiled gratefully.

But Rias gritted her teeth in frustration as she noticed that her barrier is being encased in ice, slowly but surely forming until they are trapped in an icy sphere.

Again outside the blizzard, the ice encasing the barrier started to thicken more and more as the magus' channeled and poured more of their magical energy into it. Now that victory was seemingly apparent, the foreman started to chuckle arrogantly.

"You were a fool to rely on those curs to win this battle horseman! And now, you're next." The foreman said as he pointed at the rider.

"Pay close attention demon, before you rush to conclusions." War said in serious, yet slightly annoyed tone at the foreman's ignorance, not moving an inch from his position since the fight started. Slightly confused, the foreman looked back at the block of ice where the devils were frozen in, with the magus' continuing to thicken it.

As he did, he noticed a faint, green light flashing rapidly within the block of ice. Moments after the final light flashed, a violent impact erupted from within the block, cracking it till it nearly shattered from that blow. But on the second impact, it was revealed that Issei punched through the ice, shards of it flying in all directions while the devil pawn flew up like a rocket until he stopped midair.

"Dragon shot!" Issei shouted as he fired another ball of energy directly at one of the magus'.

At the same time when Issei attacked, Akeno struck the second magus with her lightning bolt, Rias obliterated the third magus with her destruction blast and Kiba used his speed to hack the fourth magus into pieces. But the devil knight didn't stop there as he blitzed past the geomancers, catching them off guard and decapitating them on the spot with rather impressive speed before he reappeared next to his comrades. The foreman growled in anger at that unexpected maneuver while the devils lined up to face the foreman himself.

But then, out of the two portals, two large, but different demons emerged, jumping down the small platform where the foreman stood and facing against the devils.

"Kill these worms, our work is yet to be done." The foreman said sternly before he turned their backs on the group.

As for War, once again he immediately identified the two demons. One was a Legion Impaler, a demon trained in phalanx fighting style akin to the skeletal Dreadwalkers, brandishing a spiky armor, shield and a wicked bident, both weapons tempered and magically enchanted to a lethal degree. The other demon is a curious choice, which is a sorcerer known simply as a Maelstrom, a dangerous pyromancer wielding the element of fire to incinerate their enemies until nothing but ashes remain of them. How this simple wretch managed to enlist one of the Maelstroms to his side is beyond him, however, this turn of events is actually unfolding in War's favor. This is just the demonic mage he was looking for to pit against the other magic users like Rias and Akeno, demon who possess just enough power to push the devils to the brink of their strength, along with Issei and Kiba for that matter, courtesy of the Impaler.

"Be on guard Gremory, these demons are not to be underestimated." War said seriously, not removing his gaze from the two demons.

"Are they really that powerful?" Rias asked in slightly anxious tone as she looked at War.

"For you devils, yes." War said simply.

Rias was silent for a few moments, trying to process the magnitude of the danger she and her retainers are in now, especially without War to support them. This scenario is similar to the time when Death stood on the sidelines and watch them fight the demons, curious if they hold any worth, both as fighters and allies. Well, if this is the same kind of test, then they will do their best to more than meet War's expectations.

"Issei, Kiba, you take the demon to the left, Akeno and I will deal with the fire demon." Rias instructed seriously.

"Right." Issei and Kiba nodded before both of them dashed in front of the Impaler.

The Maelstrom chuckled in sinister amusement before he lifted his right hand, conjuring flames in the palm of his hand. And the moment he clenched his fist, in an instant, much to the shock of the Gremory devils, a thick, fiery barrier formed between him and the Impaler, cutting off Rias and Akeno from Issei and Kiba, trapping them both to fight the pyromancer alone. Not only that, but War was engulfed in a circular barrier behind Rias and Akeno.

"You will remain right where you are horseman, we will save your head for last to be claimed." The foreman said seriously.

War merely huffed through his nose in annoyance, even till this day the arrogance of demons knows no bounds, and that arrogance blinds them every single time. This fool really thinks that this pitiful barrier will contain a being like War and keep him in place? At any other time he would have gladly shown this imbecile how meaningless this prison barrier is, but this time he decided to play along, mainly to prevent the devils from relying on him to come to their aid should the battle go ill, and this barrier will give them all the more reason to rely more on their own strength and skill than on him.

"War!" Rias exclaimed in worry as she turned sideways to look at him.

"Focus Gremory!" War shouted sternly, startling her a bit. "There are lives you should be concerned about right now, but mine is not one of them." He then glanced at the Maelstrom in front of the girls.

The moment Rias turned her attention back to the fire demon, the Maelstrom lifted his urn and conjured a red cloud above Rias and Akeno, and from it, a row of fireballs plummeted down towards the two devils like rain. Fortunately Rias and Akeno in combined effort conjured a protective barrier above them, shielding them from the fireballs for the time being, but even so, the hard impact of the fireballs is akin to throwing bombs at them.

"Akeno! President!" Issei shouted as he ran towards the fiery barrier on instinct, but as expected he could only hear the sound of battle from the other side.

As soon as the Maelstrom went on the offensive, the Legion Impaler did the same as he immediately extended his bident, the two-pronged spear aimed straight towards the devil pawn.

"Issei!" Kiba shouted in worry before he disappeared in a blur.

In those few moments, right as the bident was about to impale Issei, Kiba reappeared in front of him and immediately parried the blow from the bident, the two-pronged spear retracting back to the demon.

"Stay focused Issei, we're on our own now." Kiba said seriously as he conjured a massive, demonic greatsword again.

Again the Impaler attacked, raising his shield in front of him and charging at the two devils like a battering ram, but this time Issei saw the attack coming and quickly dashed backwards, followed by Kiba as the demon slammed and slid his shield across the barrier before facing the two devils.

"Okay, let's deal with this asshole quick and help prez and Akeno deal with the flying candlestick." Issei said in determination.

"Right." Kiba nodded seriously in agreement.

While Rias and Akeno were maintaining their barrier and withstood the continuous rain of fire, the Maelstrom conjured fire in his right hand and unleashed a stream of flame directly at the two devils. Rias gritted her teeth as she immediately fired a destruction blast directly at the stream, the black, crimson energy drilling through the flames, prompting the demon to turn sideways. In that window of opportunity, Rias and Akeno shouted as they pushed the barrier through the fireballs raining down on them and dispersed the cloud. The two devils immediately readied their signature powers, Rias and Akeno being enveloped in destruction and electric energies respectively.

In that same moment when Rias and Akeno retaliated, the impaler went on the offensive once more, not idling for a moment as he performed a series of swipes and thrusts while extending his bident at surprising speed, with Issei and Kiba ducking and weaving to avoid every blow.

"Suicide charge it is then." Issei said to himself before he quickly dashed to the ground and charged forward, followed by Kiba, the devil pawn readying his right fist while the knight prepared for an overhead strike.

But in those moments when both of the devils were near, almost in a dance the Impaler shield bashed Issei hard and then turned around and blocked the overhead strike from Kiba. As soon as he did, the Impaler performed an overhead cleave, but fortunately Kiba dashed to his right and dodged the wicked, two pronged spear before he would get sliced in two. The demon followed up with another flurry of thrusts and swiped, with Kiba doing his best to parry every single blow.

"Dragon Shot!" Issei fired his signature energy attack.

The Legion Impaler saw the attack coming and simply shield bashed the ball right back to Issei. The devil pawn's eyes went wide in shock as his own attack was seemingly about to hit him.

Back to Rias and Akeno, an explosion can be heard where Issei and Kiba were, but the two female devils were too preoccupied with the Maelstrom to notice. The demonic pyromancer flew nimbly around the airspace that they had, firing one fireball after another, with Rias and Akeno doing the same with their respective attacks. In one moment Rias landed on the ground, conjured another destruction blast in her right hand and fired at the demon. This time the Maelstrom aimed the urn directly at the blast, and to Rias' surprise and shock, the demon absorbed the destruction blast within the urn. Akeno tried to assist her friend by firing a lightning bolt from above the demon directly at it, but before the demon could be hit he dispersed in fire, thus the lightning bolt only hit the ground below. Then the demon quickly reformed behind the devil queen, pointing the urn right on her back, ready to fire.

"Akeno, behind you!" Rias shouted desperately in warning.

Fortunately, almost by instinct Akeno dashed to her left side, avoiding the destruction ball by mere inches from hitting her, the ball of destruction going through the nearby wall and exploding violently in the caverns below, mostly illuminating it. Akeno immediately struck back as she conjured lightning in her palms and placed them on the back of the demon, electrocuting him and making him scream in agony.

"Hearing screams of pain makes me so hot." Akeno moaned sadistically as she licked her lips.

Rias couldn't help but momentarily smile a bit in amusement of her friend's tendency for S&M, but seeing the opportunity, Rias conjured two destruction blasts in each hand, merged them together before she extended both of her hands and fired an enormous destruction blast right towards the demon.

The Maelstrom's eyes flared in fury before he roared in an explosion of fire, breaking from Akeno's hold and knocking her back. The pyromancer again pointed the urn and began to absorb Rias' destruction blast again, but this time Rias continued to channel her attack, pouring more energy into the urn. But to the demon's shock, his urn started to crack, overloading itself with the destructive power, threatening to explode. Seeing this, Akeno quickly dashed down and fired a powerful lightning bolt from her index finger, electrocuting him again before it was promptly consumed by Rias' destruction blast, disintegrating the demon entirely while the blast itself went through the ceiling, outside above the complex before it exploded violently in the sky, the crimson cloud spreading in all directions before it dissipated.

The foreman gritted his teeth in frustration before he slammed his shieldcannon in front of him, aimed at Rias and fired a large fireball in her direction. Although Rias saw the attack coming from behind her, Akeno reacted faster as she dashed behind Rias and formed a barrier. But upon the force of the impact it shattered her shield, knocking her back along with Rias, drained as she was at this point.

Issei and Kiba also went for a counterattack.

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]

While Issei was boosting repeatedly…

"Sword Birth!" Kiba shouted, but instead of plunging his blade into the ground and create a row of sword spikes, he raised his sword above him, and ten replicas of his sword emerged from the devil circles behind him, levitating at his command. With that done, Kiba charged forward.

[EXPLOSION!]

Issei's power increased as green aura exploded around him.

"Ascalon!" Issei shouted as he charged forward.

[BLADE!]

The blade of the namesake sword emerged from Issei's left hand like an armblade.

The Legion Impaler raised his shield in front of him, readying himself for Issei's and Kiba's assault. Kiba attacked the demon from his right side, but to the demon's surprise as soon as the young knight started to swing his sword, ten other swords started to swing about as well in perfect unison with their creator, making the demon frantically whip about his bident to prevent the blades from slicing him in pieces. In that moment of distraction, Issei swung Ascalon upward and sliced the demon's left arm, making him scream in agony as his arm, along with his shield dropped on the ground. That left him wide open for Kiba as the knight proceeded to mercilessly slice the Impaler from all sides at intense speed, and when he did, the demon's body collapsed lifelessly on the ground in dozens of chopped pieces.

"That was awesome Kiba!" Issei cheered as he gave Kiba a thumbs up.

"Thanks Issei, good work with disarming his shield." Kiba nodded with a smile.

In that same moment when Rias obliterated the Maelstrom, the fiery wall dissipated between the four devils, thus they once again reunited for battle as four of them group up together.

As for War, he was still 'trapped' in a barrier, but kept a close eye on the battles the devils separately had. He had to admit, the Gremories have performed far better than he would have anticipated. Apparently the vicious training they endured yielded greater results than he would expect. Rather expected from Rias' part, since he himself whipped her into shape, but it is a pleasantly surprising development from a weakling like Issei, he's actually putting up a fight instead of being a simple tool to boost someone's power. As much as he is currently despising Death down to his very atom for his crime against him, credit where credit's due, his brother once again shows the fruits of his labor, training the boy in the same, merciless and brutal approach he gave to several of the Nephilim brothers way back in the day, inevitably molding them into killing machines that they were before their inevitable demise at Eden, along with the rest of their people. However, the foreman himself is now left, and moderately drained as they are, it is this particular demon that will push them to their limits.

Speaking of the said demon, the Foreman suddenly lifted his shield and fired a large fireball from it's cannon. Although the four devils gasped in shock and surprise, Rias and Akeno quickly reacted as they formed in unison a protective barrier, gritting their teeth as they withstood the impactful blow of his attack.

"You will not disrupt my work you feculent dogs!" The foreman shouted angrily before he jumped from the platform, the ground quaking due to his massive frame. "I will feed your body parts to the forges myself!" he said as he pulled out a viciously spiked flail and slammed the head of the flail on the ground, upheaving the metallic floor around the area of impact.

War tilted his head up slightly in curiosity at the mention of the forges. So that's what this whole facility is for, to produce weapons and engines of war for the demons to deploy against the Gremories within their very borders. He had witnesses such strategies before from the demons over the eons, infiltrating the realm of the angels and building several facilities like this in secret, attacking the angels by a complete surprise as soon as they were ready for deployment. And that means that this base is not the only one to be constructed within their borders. Rias will have to inform Sirzechs to discover and eliminate the rest of their bases before they have a chance to overwhelm the devils across the Gremory territory and beyond.

"You will have to take them from us first!" Rias said in bold, serious and determined tone as she readied her destruction blasts in both of her hands, while Issei, Akeno and Kiba took their fighting positions.

"Pray that you are dead before I start tearing you apart." The foreman grinned wickedly before he again slammed his shield in front of him, ready to fire.

The battle commences with the foreman launching three large fireballs from his cannon straight towards the devils. The four devils quickly dispersed as Issei dashed backwards, while Kiba dashed sideways and charged forward, and lastly Rias and Akeno sprung their devil wings and flew above the foreman. The foreman continued to fire from his cannon, but Rias retaliated by firing her destruction blast towards the demon, prompting the foreman to lift his shield and block the attack. At the same time Kiba appeared to his right side and used his ten levitating blades to dart them towards the foreman like spears. But the demon casually swiped his flail right through the blades, shattering them like glass before he swung overhead, about to pulverize Kiba, but the devil knight dashed backwards before it could hit him. The foreman fired more shots from his shield cannon at Akeno, but the devil queen evaded every projectile before she lifted her hands and conjured a lightning bolt above the demon. The foreman saw the attack coming as he promptly used his flail to absorb the lightning bolt, much to the surprise of the devils, spinning it above his head before he violently slammed his flail in front of him, sending an electric shockwave across the room and stunning the four devils, leaving them momentarily perplexed.

"Ha! I expected a better sport, even from you wretches!" The foreman chuckled arrogantly, all the more amused as he noticed that the devils struggled to catch their breath.

"Dragon shot!" Issei fired at the demon, but the foreman used his shield to deflect the ball of energy through the nearby wall, letting it detonate afterwards.

"Well that did diddly dick, didn't it?" Issei said in frustration and annoyance.

The foreman chuckled arrogantly again as he lifted his shield and slammed it down on the ground in front of him, aiming and ready to fire.

"Okay, I had it with this fat fuck." Issei grunted in frustration before he clenched both of his fists to his sides "Buy me some time you guys, I plan to end this with one shot."

"Right, we'll do what we can." Rias nodded before the three devils charged again.

[Careful partner, you've already drained a lot of stamina from repeated boosts thus far. Too many boosts now and your Balance Breaker will deactivate.] Ddraig warned.

"I know, but it's do or die at this point. This dude's a tough nut to crack, so I have to do this now while I still have the juice." Issei said in determination before he commenced with his repeated boosts.

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]

While he multiplied the accumulated power, Rias, Akeno and Kiba did their part to buy Issei the time he needs, counterattacking whenever they had the window of opportunity. Then at one point, Rias glanced at War, who was still observing their bout with his usual, serious look on his face, and if she's not mistaken with a hint of disapproval on it. His gaze alone tells her that she should try harder, that the rider expect for her to win this fight and finally prove her worth, that there was no room for failure, lest it would mean their deaths. And when she glanced to Issei and back to War, she remembered the words he uttered to Issei and Akeno, back then when the devils sparred against Tannin.

"Unlike the dragon that you fought, your enemies will not hold back against you, nor would they give you the time to execute a combined assault as prolonged as yours."

As much as Issei's Booster Gear is beneficial to the team, she realized that they can't rely on it constantly to balance the odds in every battle, especially since the Sacred Gear is known to tax on the user's stamina to make use of the accumulated power, and Issei is not really known to have boundless amount of it. It is they themselves who must push their strength to utmost limit and go beyond them, just as War taught her during their training. And that is what Rias intends to do, to do exactly what War wants and prove herself to him in every respect.

With that and mind, gaining the second wind despite her fatigue, Rias frowned in determination before she landed down, gritting her teeth as she mustered what's left of her energy reserves into one final destruction blast, an aura of destruction energy forming around her, drawing the attention of the foreman, Akeno and Kiba. Rias conjured two destruction blasts in each hand, merged them together in front of her before she fired an enormous blast of destruction. The foreman promptly placed his shield to his left, the destruction blast hitting the shield, but Rias continued to channel her attack. Kiba made use of the opportunity as he readied his massive, demonic sword and dashed forward, disappearing in a blur. In a split second Kiba reappeared to the demon's side, but the demon saw him coming as he instinctively swung his flail towards the devil knight. This time, using all his might Kiba broke the chain holding the flail, to the demon's shock before he roared as he slammed his sword onto the front of the demon's right shoulder.

A suspenseful stalemate followed as Kiba and Rias gave their all to finish this fight, until Issei's gem within the left gauntlet finally lit up.

"Yes, finally!" Issei cheered before he looked at… "Akeno, heads up!" He said as he dashed towards her, while the devil queen can only smile, readying herself for quite a power up.

"Boosted Gear gift!" Issei shouted before he placed his palm on Akeno's back.

[TRANSFER!]

An incredible surge of power flowed through Akeno's entire being, making her rear her head back and moan loudly in pleasure, all the while being engulfed in green energy.

[RESET!]

Issei's Balance Breaker cancelled after using so much stamina to accumulate the power, dropping on the ground in utter exhaustion.

After adjusting to the massive power, electricity started to spark in her eyes and across her body before she promptly fired a straight line lightning bolt directly at Kiba's blade of the sword. With Akeno's aid, Kiba let out a battle roar as he used all his might to drive his sword through the demon's arm. The foreman gritted his teeth as he struggled to withstand their might, but to his shock, he could feel his flesh being sliced before Kiba finally cleaved his right arm from his shoulder socket. Seeing the opportunity, Rias screamed as she poured more energy into her blast, a wave of destruction doubling in size and finally cracking the foreman's shield. Akeno quickly came to Rias' side and unleashed a potently powerful lightning blast. Combined with Rias' destruction blast, they completely shattered the foreman's shield and consumed the demon himself in their wrath, the foreman roaring in fury and disbelief as he was disintegrated.

Finally the foreman was defeated, but Rias and Akeno felt the pain and fatigue gripping their bodies as they collapsed on the ground, on the brink of passing out while trying to catch their breath. However, their attack didn't stop there as it continued to travel down to the bottom of the demonic base. It was at that point that War frowned slightly, realizing that if their combined blast were to set off, it would destroy this entire facility. And drained as the devils are, they will die in their own blast. With that in mind, War punched through the barrier as if hitting air and quickly dashed towards Rias and Akeno first, picking them both with his left gauntlet before he went for Kiba and lastly Issei.

The moment he picked up Issei, the combined blast finally set off, prompting War to perform a mighty leap, drilling through the metal floor and reaching the surface of the demon base. He didn't stop there as War immediately leapt miles in the air above the base, and from the skies he can see the entire base being violently engulfed in a dome of crimson and electric blast, destroying and disintegrating everything within its reach. Then he started to plummet towards the ground, until he violently landed on the ground not far from the crater, holding the four devils in both of his arms close to chest. When he straightened up, he gently dropped them on the ground.

"Lower your weapons. It's the horseman." The angel champion ordered to his comrades, an order that they slowly complied to.

"The demon base has been destroyed. Report back to Azrael and have him meet with Sirzechs, I want them to scour the territory for any other facility that may be built out there." War commanded as he approached the champion.

"Understood." The angel champion nodded before he along with the rest of the angels swopped airborne and flew back towards their base.

As soon as they left, Rias opened her eyes and looked at her savior.

"War?" She said in slight surprise.

"It is over Gremory. The foreman and his warband are destroyed." War said in his usual, serious tone as he looked at her.

"You saved us." Rias smiled in appreciation, even blushing a bit at the realization.

"I saved you because you're of no use to me dead, you or your retainers." War said sternly.

Rias couldn't help but sigh a bit, rather typical of War to break the heartfelt moment, stoic and serious as he usually is, but overtime Rias got used to it, it's simply who he is. That said, she simply got up on her feet, along with Kiba, while Issei knelt near unconscious Akeno, who was most battered out of the four devils.

"So, have we met your expectations?" Kiba asked politely.

"There is still much more left to be done to make you opponents to be reckoned with. But for the Rating Game against Sitri… you are ready." War said in his usual, stoic tone.

Rias, Kiba and Issei smiled as an incredible feeling of pride and catharsis swelled in them, at the fact that they have finally received a noteworthy praise from War himself.

At long last, after weeks of bloody, boneaching training exercises and eliminating the foreman and his warband, the Gremory devils have finally proven themselves in War's eyes as capable combatants. With the red rider's confidence, Rias and the other devils can now say with utmost certainty that Sona is bound to lose in the Rating Game to come. She may not know what other grueling tasks the horsemen have in store for them, but for now they can take comfort in the thought that they are more than ready to achieve their very first legit victory in the Rating Game battles.


A/N: About time I posted this chapter, took too long even for me. Sorry it took so goddamn long to write this chapter, but for past month or two I was either lacking in motivation to write the scenes or I was stuck in one scene or another trying to brainstorm how the conversations between the horsemen, devils etc. the battle scenes, among many other factors I can name.

-Gamelover41592 Thanks man, appreciate it. Nah, it was clear in Genesis that Strife also had remorse for killing the Nephilim, even questioning War's apathy at the subject at one point.

-It is ON Damn right it has!

-Gods Angry Man Haha, thanks, and sorry couldn't help it :D Can't blame ya, Fury got those thighs and boobs that perfectly fit the DXD universe :D

-damianmartinez0920 Thank you. I know, but there are people who plead for such a thing, so :D

Yes I did, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they'll be next Vegeta and Bulma like you suggested. At this point there might be absolutely no resolution on that part, so I only ask people that they don't jump to conclusions whenever I throw a War and Rias scene in the chapters :D

-DOOMRAIDER Exactly, I imagined that Death anticipated that that deceit with War would come back to bite him one day, and that he will have to work his brain off to even attempt to regain his youngest brother's trust. Indeed, tension between them went from 0 to 100 real quick.

Couldn't agree more. In addition of them being vicious race of warriors, the Nephilim also created the weapons of mass destruction that are the Grand Abominations out of the race itself, all of their potential utilized in the weapons themselves, which made them all the more dangerous to Creation. Talk about badass :D And in a universe as grimdark and brutal as Darksiders, it was only fitting that they gain more severe instructors and for them to actually draw out that potential from the devils, rather than whatever half baked teachers they got in DXD canon, which amounted from little to nothing sadly.

-Dasgun ?

-muddin2900 Umm, can't tell if that's a positive reaction or not :D

-rick12 Thanks man, and thanks for narrative recap :D

-Pedro Alonso Buby Huayanay Zamudio I mean, Strife is not literally a god of harem, but in this story's context he's quite the womanizer, so with the amount of women he's been with over the eons he's practically a harem god :D Of course this is not my focus on Strife, but it's something I imagined he would do in his spare time based on his laidback personality.

Yea, I've first watched the anime of Records of Ragnarok and then read the manga, read it all the way to the latest chapter actually, which is Beelzebub vs Nikola Tesla, so I'm interested to hear your story in PM.

-Zhorvak I can see Issei imagining in his head of that scenario, but as to how it will really unfold between him and Fury, ill leave that one to your imagination.

-nantono Who said anything about death romance? He may have apprentices, but romance is not even in his list of priorities, naturally :D He's eons old bastard, so 'spiteful old man' can serve as one of many descriptions for him, outside the battlefield anyway.

I doubt that "like" exists in his vocabulary, only tolerance or "means to an end" type of relationship with people, except his brothers whom he'd genuinely fight for against legions of angels and demons.

Again thank you all for the faves, follows and reviews, hope I didn't lose my touch with this chapter. See you all in next one, hopefully sooner than this chapter release :)