A Shark King's Hell Chapter 55, a Hellsing + High School DxD/ハイスクールD×D Crossover fanfic

All was rendered silent after Riser's departure through his magic circle, post his humiliation by Hellsing. Said members simply stared at that spot with a varying set of expressions with some taking sadistic amusement in the man's plight while others looked torn between confused and amused by what had happened. In contrast, Sirzechs and the Devils looked like they'd come face to face with the boogie man himself given how pale their faces had turned. In fact one could compare them to a corpse from their skin tone and lack of motion.

Before long, the silence got broken when Sirzechs directed his gaze to Meredith and took a gulp. His eyes trembled as he tried to speak without stuttering. "Do you… realize what you just did…?" he questioned, wondering if Meredith had the full picture of her actions and their ramifications.

In response Meredith sat back in her seat, looking casual, stoic and unfazed by what had happened. "What have I what Lucifer? Tell me what have I done? Enlighten me." She mocked Sirzechs, her features especially her somewhat devious smirk pretty much confirming that she already knew the answer.

Something which caused no small amount of irritation to swell inside the Satan with the title of 'lucifer' in his possession. "Lady Ordinton, don't play coy with me. Do you know the repercussions of challenging the Phenex family? One of the most prestigious families in the entirety of the Underworld?"

"Do I know? Yes. Do I care about those riffrans? No." Meredith snorted during her reply, her contempt for the phenex (and likely Devils as a whole by extension) being made abundantly clear.

At this point Sirzechs couldn't take it anymore and started speaking with an increasingly loud tone of voice to the much younger lady. "Lady Ordinton, the Phenex family have basically got connections and influence across almost the entire world due to their phenex tears! They provide them to anyone in the world who has fat wallets, which makes the Phenex family one of the richest of the 72 Pillars! There's no telling what might happen if someone dares go against them in any way, there's many among them who would react in ways that make Russia look like angels!" he ranted, images of such 'actions' playing through his mind like a warning message. Anything that could make one of the most tyrannical nations in human history look good by comparison was to be feared, Sirzechs believed, and he hoped that Meredith would see that too so she could smooth things over with the Phenex family before they could do anything that'd affect the lives of millions.

Unfortunately for him, Sirzechs saw that cold, unflinching gaze Meredith had plastered on her face instead of a remorseful one. Even though he'd somewhat expected it due to knowing who her mentor was, it still stung to see it regardless. "Tell me this, Gremory. Would I have had to stand by while he not only insulted me, but also demeaned those I represent and slander those whom I promised Hellsing's protection? Would I have had to let him continue his walk on the road of life scot free when so many others would have long since got theirs cut short JUST because he had a little influence? Do you understand what that would make 'me', PAWN of the masses?"

Instantly Sirzechs cringed at the harsh title that Mereidth had planted atop him, even holding an arm out to stop Grayfia from intervening when he sensed her power starting to flare at the insults directed towards her king. A fight between her and Hellsng would NOT end well, and the Shintos were already pissed off enough with the Devils as it were. Destruction of their property would probably be the staw that broke the camel's back.

Unaware or perhaps just uncaring for the man's thoughts, Meredith hardened her eyes whilst she reached into her dress' skirt pockets, pulling out a Cuban cigar before lighting it via a small magic circle. She then placed it inside her mouth, holding it in place in the left corner of said bodypart as she glared at her fellow leader. Although the notion that such a coward was of similar standing to her sickened the woman to the bone. "What Riser has done was something I will NEVER condone. I, no, Hellsing will not back down from a practical stain on our reputation and honor." She inhaled her cigar and puffs out smoke from her mouth.

At once the woman released a wave of killing intent, but unlike many other times her words invvoked another emotion in her followers… charisma. The way she looked right now resembled their true boss, Sir Integra.

Once again Sirzechs attempted to sway Sir Integra's apprentice from this action. "Lady Ordinton, it is not a good idea to challenge Riser Phenex. If you do, then not only will Hellsing but also your reputation will be stretched thin, close to breaking. The Phenex family will also not standby if you permanently harm their third son. They'll ruin you!"

"Let them try." Meredith leaned forward, unfazed by the possible threats the Phenex family would likely send her way. "As far as I'm concerned, the UK faction is not associated with the underworld. If the Phenex family ever tries to stain the royal guard's reputation, then we will respond in kind… no, we will retaliate TENFOLD. They have many connections and influence but the Queen has the commonwealth on her side, countries that although are independent of the British Empire still remain affiliated with the UK faction. This loyalty FAR exceeds what the phenex family has." She stopped her sentence for a moment, before she spoke once more after uncrossing her legs and then re-crossing them, switching the positions her legs had occupied. "So tell me Gremory, what should we be scared of? An empty threat or meaningless words?"

Sirzech could not argue back at Meredith because no matter how much he tried to argue, she always had a counter-argument against him. She was exactly like her teacher, in a battle of wits and politics she remained one step ahead of him, always. He couldn't argue back because her words were like powerful swords that pierced diamonds themselves.

"And you allow these pillar families to do as they please, you allow them to walk all over you like a doormat being stomped on by boots, by shoes, by trainers and by feet. You do not show any sort of backbone against them nearly enough, and when you do it is mostly because it is connected to your former family. The ORIGINAL Lucifer never cared for such things nor did he even need to. He had the reigns on his people for better or for worse, because he had the strength and WILL to keep his people united under one goal. From what I have seen and what you've demonstrated Sirzechs Gremory, you lack that element COMPLETELY. If it weren't for your strength over the power of destruction, I doubt you would have become a Satan at all, you would have just remained a pawn of your family, instead of the pawn of the elite you've been reduced to, arguably even worse."

Upon hearing THAT, Sirzechs immediately turned pale with the images of what he had seen from the original Satans' descendents during the civil war coming back to him. Those memories became fuel for the flames within his next response that made them as fiery as they were. "You don't understand, lady Ordinton! We can't possibly allow ourselves to sink to the same lows as that monster! We live in better times now."

Meredith actually scoffed at this, rolling her eyes at the notion at the end which got mirrored by her subordinates, ESPECIALLY Theseus who bristled at the statement. He looked like he wanted to go and gut the man right then and there for such impudence. "There is no such thing as utopia, you naive fool. Why do you think there have been countless wars across the human world? Why it was to show dominance and strike back against those who dared to mess with their country's image." she sneered, her lips twisted into a dark scowl. By this point her companions were beginning to leak killing intent as irritation flowed through them at Sirzechs' naive outlook on his race's history. "And don't get me started on the sinking low issue you mentioned. You live in the underworld, where the lowest of all people would be. Worse you think that the Devils have changed at all from their time under the original Lucifer… that is COMPLETELY untrue. They still commit just as many atrocities to other races throughout the supernatural world, the only thing that's different is they're better at hiding it and use political means to suppress cries for help. Even as much as I hate to say this…..Adolf Hitler united the whole German country under one banner after it was desecrated by the Treaty of Versailles."

POW-POW-POW-POW!

Each word slammed into Sirzechs gut with greater force than the last, leaving him barely standing when the verbal onslaught blissfully came to an end. Nonetheless, the damage had been done and it became apparent to everyone watching how this had been a hard blow on Sirzechs Gremory's, pride, dignity and self-esteem. Each word Meredith had spoken had the same level of lthality as a French guillotine during said country's revolution. The blade descended down to Sirzechs neck and figurably decapitated him, separating his head from the rest of his body.

Like ants, they build high, like ants they dug deep and like ants, they were squashed by both the sea and sky. No matter how much ants tried to survive, they'll always be squashed.

those words, no those blades, struck hard and deep into both his soul and mind. No matter how much he pleaded or tried to convince her, it became painfully obvious that Hellsing would never back down and return any grievances towards them tenfold.

It is not just Hellsing's reputation that struck fear into the supernatural, though, there was also the history of brutal policies that made even the Hindu gods be weary of them. Executing people who burned widows as a display of dominance was just one of the ways they stuck to their guns. Both politics and physical action is what best suit for Hellsing and UK faction, even though they weren't an empire no more the UK faction's still got sharp claws like it always did.

Sirzechs really wanted to burst out in anger, to respond the devils are not like what they were in the past in a display of force and his domination over the queen's granddaughter.

…

But he can't.

In the end pacifism took over his mind and actions, resulting in him simply clenching his trembling fists. Even if he were to make some sort of retaliation, Sir Integra's student would not be fazed by his anger or even his power of destruction, she didn't even regard him as someone worth being afraid of. A major crucial part of ruling an entire kingdom or faction was to show force, domination, an iron fist and a firm resolve to do what must be done. That was how Meredith's family managed to rule the united kingdom for generations.

The monarch system still ran like it always did in London.

There was one last attempt to convince her, in a last ditch effort, that he could think of. It will probably fail, but what remained of his pride refused to give in. "You might not be able to participate in the rating game because its only devils event which they partake in."

"That information barely fazes me. You have Ajuka Astaroth Beelzebub, one of the satans in the underworld, the inventor of the evil pieces and as your kind calls him 'The smartest devil in the underworld'. Have him figure it out since he is one of your top scientists. Or else." With that she finished the topic here and now, not wanting to waste more of her time with the red head male. "Do you understand, Sirzechs?"

"..."

"I said: Do. You. Understand!?"

"...I do." In the end, all he could do was comply with the wishes of the Hellsing leader's apprentice. He had been soundly beaten in this diplomacy game at every turn, leaving next to no room for argument. There was nothing Sirzechs could do at this point, he had to bend to the woman's will. He couldn't look her in the eye, but he bet Meredith was drinking in his humiliation. "...(SIGH) At least there aren't any members from the Shinto faction here."

Suddenly, in some turn of an events, the moment she heard that lament, Meredith sported a fanged smile while shadows covered her face and her eyes glinted dangerously. "The Shinto's already know."

"?! What?!"

"In fact, if you were paying attention to your surroundings then you would havet noticed by now." She raised her hand up to the air and snapped her fingers.

SNAP!

From the sounds of her fingers snapping, Theseus who silently understood the order, walked to the side and grabbed something in the air. Somehow the hand seemed to grip onto the air itself before he continued to walk ahead, tearing apart the area to reveal a colorful area behind it.

"Hhhaaaa, why you gotta have to spoil the fun? I was getting to the best part." A feminene voice was heard. Reality continued to be torn apart before revealing a person standing behind it:A woman, one who looked to be in her 20's… at least physically, anyways.

She sported dark brown hair that reached down to the back of her knees in length, with a pair of fox ears protruding out from atop her head. Two crimson vulpine eyes fit snugly within their sockets which had lighter red eyeliner like what would be used on a japanese face mask in a festival, two crimson colored plates attached to the two front bangs of her hair that orbited around her neck. Her outfit consisted of a long, dark reddish black Haori that the woman wore similar to a Trench Coat with crimson stitches around the shoulder areas and golden patterns around the ends of each oversized sleeve. Beyond those, were a pair of black gloves with golden wrists, gloves that covered all fingers save for the thumbs which got bore to the world like a newborn baby. Fastened around her waist, was what looked like a massive beltmade seemingly from ship plating, a single golden emblem of a Sakura flower embedded within it's centre. Beneath that Haori, was a white shirt which had a circular opening beneath the neck which exposed a generous amount of the woman's cleavage (much to Issei's hardly suppressed delight), whilst beneath the shirt was a crimson skirt that reached her thighs in length, styled similarly to a hakuma in terms of patterns. Over her legs were a pair of black stockings with several metallic grey bands around their tops like some makeshift garter belts, her feet concealed by a pair of classic japanese sandals. Finally, there were the 6 fox Tails slowly swaying to and fro behind the woman,who had the back of her right hand covering her lips to suppress a mischievous,downright sadistic-sounding snicker.

All in all, the woman looked to be a damn bombshell with her hourglass figure that even made Akeno jealous.

"HUGE HONKERS!" Of course, Issei broke the silence first by making that proclamation while shooting up from his seat, a hand raised as if to ask a question to a school teacher.

BAM!

There was literally birds chirrping around Issei's knocked out head, the said male now flat on the ground frontfirst, courtesy of a certain blonde's steaming fist which was currently trembling a bit. The Hellsing group collectively sweat dropped at this action, Issei seemed like he just couldn't quite let go of his perverted nature.

Deciding to get back into the swing of things, Meredith got up from her seat and bowed down to the mysterious fox woman. "Forgive my subordinate for displaying such a shameful act. I promise this won't happen again, won't it Theseus?" she asked her subordinate.

In response he answered to his leader's question. "It won't Meredith, just let me prepare for some….equipment and some training routine that would scar-I mean improve his standing."

"...Why do I get the feeling I should pity Issei now?" Mio asked when she felt a sudden shiver on her back upon hearing those words, it doesn't help that Theseus' smile looked very suspicious and terrifying. Her eyes blinked and her shivers got worse when she suddenly saw a figure behind Theseus in red garp, mimicking his actions.

Kuroh had a look of pity on his face and place a hand on Mio's shoulder. "Its best to not dwell any further, trust me. Some things are meant to stay hidden, believe me you don't want to know what happens next."

"...I'll take your word for it." Mio simply agreed to Kuroh suggestion. Sure Mio did truly love Theseus, but sometimes he could be quite spooky, terrifying and scary. There was a reason why he was nicknamed one of Hellsing's powerhouses in her mind, something which her succubus friend Maria also agreed with her on judging from the way she nodded her head so frantically it resembled one of those boggle heads.

The fox lady named Inari, meanwhile, simply waved her hands in dismissal. "Eh, its fine. I've had a fair share of these types of perverts so no worries little girl. I won't get mad." She said while patting Meredith's head like she were stroking a pet hamster.

Annoyed how she was being treated by the fox goddess, she nonetheless hoed her annoyance in since she's dealing with a Shinto God, one of the older ones too if her mythology was accurate. There was no doubt in Meredith's mind that she would tear her a new one with ease, and unlike Sirzechs Meredith had more respect for the shintos than the Devils. Hence why she kept her head lowered whilst making the following statement. "I am pleased to hear that lady Inari, but back to the situation at hand..."

Lifting her gaze up from the leader of Hellsing in this region, Inari's expression shifted into a one mixed with dark amusement, disgust and sadistic glee (AKA a typical yandereish look that would crop up in one's nightmares) which got directed towards Sirzechs. The man in question actually looked like he wanted some aliens from outer space to beam him into their ship and take him away from this place, especially when that expression fell upon him. "I always said that we should never have trusted an incometent moron like yourself with our precious followers' lives, bitch boy…" she began to say, giggling with an intensity similar to two pipes grinding against one another. Her entire body started radiating an aura of divine energy like a second skin, one which sent numerous chills down not just the Satan but the spines of every devil in the room. "I am thankful that you have proven me and my people right."

"L-Lady Inari…!" Sirzechs tried to say while visibly sweating bullets from the domineering aura the fox goddess was radiating. Although she looked to be smiling behind that hand of hers, the way that shadows darkened the upper portion of her face proved the opposite to be the case. Beside him, Grayfia stood straighter than normal if that was even possible while his sister and her peerage members were struggling to keep their consciousness from shutting down and knocking themselves out.

There were many reasons why the Shinto Pantheon was a pantheon many in the Devils did not wish to get on the bad side of, either for fear of their own safety or fear of the knowledge of what they would do when angered. There were two main factions in the pantheon, the one which believed in pacifism and diplomacy of which currently had the most members thanks to their leaders being mostly along their lines of ideology. But then there was the more problematic faction which was much more militaristic, warlike, and somewhat imperialistic which wouldn't hesitate to launch mass invasions against other beings without mercy nor discrimination. One might call this faction a racist faction but that just wasn't the case, they didn't give a shit about race especially when they all had one thing in common: that their blood would stain their weapons red.

Lady Inari was one of those in the latter category, she had proven that… on multiple occasions.

There was a reason why many of their representatives sent to manage Kuoh mysteriously got turned into smouldering piles of ashes. Nothing had been proven of course, but beneath the surface each of them knew who had been personally responsible.

"L-Lady Inari, you heard all of that…?" he stuttered, a small part of him hoping that to have not been the case so he could at least save some face.

Unfortunately for him, such hopes got dashed when she stepped forwards and her oppressive aura SWELLED. "Why of course I did, 'pawn of the masses' as dear Meredith so eloquently put it. I was here since the beginning after all…" she told him, lowering her hand to expose the downright canine grin on her lips. The grin that brought her fox fangs into view that finally knocked Koneko and Akeno out with the two slumping onto the ground in sitting positions, like puppets cut from their strings. "... As well as my associates back in our home territory in the heavens!" she cheerfully (almost TOO cheerily) quipped while gesturing to the area above her right shoulder where a Magic Circle could be seen hovering in place.

That circle may as well have been the death tolls for Sirzechs' pride.

There's too much trouble going on for Sirzechs. The best thing he can do was leave, the more he stayed, the worse it got. He forcefully calmed himself down and got up from his seat, he turned his attention to his little sister. "Come on Rias, we're leaving home. We will discuss for your actions." He said to his little sister which more was like a demand.

For Rias Gremory, she might know what gonna happen. She wasn't blind to the fact that these 'monsters' could wipe the floor with Riser Phenex, considering how powerful they were individually, and how great they were at installing fear into their enemies. But at least she was thankful for Meredith and Hellsing for stopping the marriage plan, she might rest easy knowing she had enough time to figure out a way to get out of this marriage.

However, just when she was about to get up…

"Not so fast." Meredith voice erupted onto the scene like a volcano coming to life, causing both Sirzechs and his wife to freeze on the spot. "Did you really think I would forget how your little sister tried to sleep with my subordinate? To try and manipulate his base instincts to string him along like a common slave?"

Sirzechs stand up straight and quickly answered her, not wanting to invoke the woman's wrath more than he already had. "You can rest assured. Rias Gremory will be punished for this, I can promise you that lady Ordinton. I won't overlook this, even if she's my little sister I will not give her any special treatment-"

"Thats where your wrong." the deep tone Meredith spoke with shut Sirzechs up before he could finish, and given how much pressure she's putting out even Inari's brow rose in intrigue. "She has acted out within Hellsing's border, the territory you have given us. It is within our right to punish those who seeks to act against us." She hardened her expression and spoke the following. "In other words WE get to decide her fate, not you or your former family."

Sirzechs widened his eyes in fear, as well as his sister. Her peerage mimicked her actions. They almost went to her side but however. Something was stopping their movement.

Kiba struggled to move a single inch. "I…..can't…..move!"

"What's….happening…..to us?"

"Why….can't…..I move…my body?"

Each peerage member voiced out their struggles whilst they tried to move, however they couldn't no matter how hard they tried for some reason. It was like some was controlling their movements, as if their bodies had turned into ones of marionettes controlled by a sinister puppet master.

They got their answer when Theseus the said puppet master, spoke. "One more move." He announces, his palm was aimed forwards before turning it so that his palm faced the ceiling. He then went and slowly clenched it into a fist. "And I'll turn all of your precious peerage members' minds to fucking paste."

When she saw this happen, Meredith's lips curved into a sadistic sneer, a sadistic gaze emitting fromm her eyes. Unlike prior incidents when she had punished Theseus for acting out of turn, this time she decided to not intervene and instead let him do his thing. He'd been a good boy, so him unleashing his inner beast wasn't going to be something she'd stop.

Sirzechs quickly attempts to plead with Meredith, trying to at least save his sister from a fate worse than possibly death. "Please lady Ordinton. I beg of you, my little sister didn't mean to try and manipulate one of yours! She's young and can learn from her mistakes! She was just acting spoiled!"

"Hmph, you're wrong about that brat not meaning to try and manipulate the pervert." Meredith sneered, clicking her fingers once more to which a cruel grin spread across Theseus' lips. His eyes began to glow a faint green color as several water shark heads formed around the now quivering Gremory. Tears began to build in the corners of her eyes when she saw their beady green eyes bearing down on her with their maws bare for all to see. "To manipulate by definition requires a level of intelligence and intent, meaning she had very well the intention to cause trouble for us. Furthermore, she did this JUST when we were recovering from dealing with a bunch of incidents primarily caused by the mess your brat of a sister made with her security measures. There is ZERO chance this wasn't premeditated, GREMORY. Her being young is not a worthy excuse, nor is her being able to learn from her mistakes. She's committed a crime, that she MUST be punished for."

"Lady Ordinton, please-"

"Its alright big brother." Before Sirzechs could plead further, Rias Gremory spoke after a long time of silence. Tears were running down both cheeks by this point, mostly from the fear and resignation in her gut but also how the water shark maws had inched closer by the second during Meredith's speech till they were an inch away from puncturing her neck with their fangs. Even moving an inch would have punctured the skin and likely caused fatal injury, but she didn't let that stop her.

Stunned into disbelief, her elder brother shifted his attention to his sister. "Rias?"

The red hair girl spoke. "I know what I did was unforgivable. I was desperate, I couldn't think straight. I wanted to get out of this marriage so desperately, as well as reclaim what I saw as rightfully Devil territory. I let it go through my mind and take over."

For all her life, Rias could recall how she had everything she could have ever wanted: loyal friends, loving parents, servants to tend to her every need and the most luxurious of lifestyles. She had been popular back when she was both homeschooled by her family's private tutors till she had been of age to enroll into the Underworld's capital city of Lilith's main institution for Devil eite like herself: the Cornelica Academy (she still wondered who in their right mind inspired someone to make a hentai using that same name). From there she had quickly surged in popularity with boys simping over her for herlooks and smarts, whereas girls either followed her like her family's servants or envied her since she'd been well-endowed even back then. She had even managed to gain her own evil pieces earlier than most kids due to passing the tests used to measure the worthiness of the Devil youths easier and earlier than her peers, thus she'd started gaining peerage members from a young age, which only helped put her in the spotlight which did wonders for her household's prestige.

Rias didn't hate any of this, nor did she hate her family heritage either. She was quite proud of her lineage, especially when she had delved into it's history and discovered how much it had contributed to Devil society, even amongst the remaining 72 Pillars. Her family had a better reputation than a lot of the others due to how well looked-after their servants/peerage members were alongside the relatives that lived in their territory. Many had only positive opinions about her family, with many competent Devils throughout history coming from her family's history.

Back then, Rias had thought that this would never change and that she would lead a life of comfort, luxury and ease for the years to come.

Never could she have imagined how wrong she would be…

It had been an electric shock to her system, practically tossing her world upside down when it was announced that she was to be wed to a man by the name of Riser Phenex. She had spent the entire day in total displeasure and disbelief that she was to marry someone she hadn't even met yet although she had been aware of some rumors about him at the time. Rumors that she had delved into in some vain hope that the man they had chosen for her had at least SOME integrity to him. That he was like those heroes she had read in her romance mangas that her family had bought for her to delve into during her free time. It had been almost impossible NOT to hear of him due to the man proudly boasting of his pedigree whenever he got the chance which only fuelled the grapevine of gossip throughout the Devil youth community at the academy.

Rias' fears, to her dismay, got solidated when she found out exactly who the man was, someone whom the rumors drastically understated in her opinion at the time: a playboy who didn't love her or any woman at that matter, seeing them as nothing but tools for his own libido. She had heard how Riser had proudly proclaimed that he had lost his virginity at 13 to one of the younger maids serving in the Phenex family, even having moved on to the rest of them no matter if they were adult or child. More disturbingly it almost seemed like he had a loli fetish due to going after the younger maids more, although this became subverted as Riser had gotten older which resulted in him targeting the adult women more.

That wasn't all, oh hell no, things only got worse from there. Those fetishes that Riser had? Whelp, it turned out that as he got older the man seemed to engage in more and more of them that grew in depravity and perversion to the point where even other Devils who were known for being quite freaky in their own rights would cringe in disgust. He would constantly brag about engaging in massive 'sex rituals' as he called them where he would violently 'mark' his partners in runes and other necessities with whatever got him roused in the first place: ink, oil, piss, shit, the works. One could name it and Riser may have used it to fulfil some sexual fantasy of his, making the tags on any hentai website (yes Rias had seen those thanks to Akeno), seem like pure vanilla by comparison.

That type of person was DEFINITELY not someone she would want in a husband. Putting aside the fact that the bastard loved plowing women on the daily and boisterously talked about the orgies he would engage in on a daily basis with either his peerage members (whom were all women AND included his little sister of all people) but he'd not hidden how he only wanted her body and family prestige that would enhance his own, a common trait for most political marriages in Devil society.

Immediately after she had finished her research on the man, Rias had went straight to her parents and begged them to break off the marriage, citing everything she had learned from her research. However, not only did this fail due to her parents not believing in those 'rumors' and 'slander towards a proud member of the phenex house' but the marriage had been planned many years in advance, before she had even been born in fact, due to he father making arrangements with Lord Phenex.

It didn't help that she had learned the marriage had been backed by the majority of elder Devils who were well known for being stubborn and refusing to change their ways even in the slightest. Rias honestly couldn't tell what use they had in Devil society anymore since they hardly did anything but bitch and moan about respecting traditions.

Because of all of this, Rias had done all she could to delay the marriage talks, she had refused to be anywhere near Riser as much as she could despite many of those instances ending with her parents either forcing her to be with him or tricking her into outings with the blonde playboy/sexual madman. Many of those outings, to Rias' horror, had been to brothels throughout the capital city's red light district with a few instances of female workers trying to 'tend' to her on Riser's orders to 'soften her up' to the idea of his sexual fantasies, one of his favorites being shitting in her crimson hair.

One of those methods had been begging her brother to enrol her in Kuoh Academy and make her the city's governor. She had intended to use that position as a means to keep Riser at bayand gather the remainder of her peerage to form enough strength that would cause him to think twice about messing with her. In her mind, it had to be more about quality than the quantity of members Riser possessed, her peerage had to be a versatile fighting force entirely loyal to her so she wouldn't have to worry about being betrayed or her peerage falling apart to create a bunch of Strays that'd be hunted by the authorities. That had been the biggest reason for Rias to become this city's ruler back then, and as shameful as she felt admitting this actually ruling the territory came second to her own lifestyle and ambitions which resulted in a number of issues to be overlooked chief among them being the corruption within the high ranking officials who acted her wished out in her stead.

Officials she remembered having mysteriously 'vanished' since the city got passed over to Hellsing.

One day, her rook had told her of a draconic smell coming from Issei, one of the perverted trio of Kuoh academy. Upon hearing the news, Rias had almost jumped at the chance of planning to reincarnate him into her peerage especially since anything draconic would be a boon for her no matter what form it took. Dragons themselves were some of the most feared and revered existences due to their power, ferocity and wild natures. They often attracted chaos and destruction wherever they went, leaving ruin and devastation in their wake which suited her just fine ESPECIALLY the thought of them ripping Riser a new one despite his immortality burning such hopes to cinders.

Shortly before she could enact her plans of using the fallen angels that had snuck into her territory to ensure Issei's loyalty when she revived him as one of her own kind, Rias had then suddenly received a message from her brother.

'Rias, as of today you and Sona Sitiri are no longer the owners of Kuoh city. Due to your negligence the Shintos are not very happy with your result of keeping their people safe. As of now the UK sub faction, the Hellsing organization, will be taking over the rights of Kuoh city. I pray to our lord Satan that you will not try to upset them or worse. I can only hope that the organization is merciful to let you and Sona stay in the human world.

I'm sorry Rias, this is the best I can do.'

That message may as well have signed Rias' death warrant right then and there, because that was how she felt inside after reading it. Not only had something rightfully belonging to the Devils by contracted agreement, something that's practically 'sacred' to Devil Society, but she had lost one of her biggest defences against that sexual psychopath which had been a cause for many of her nightmares. She had to learn to sleep with one eye open for fear of Riser suddenly appearing and assaulting her, something she had to prevent several times beforehand though nobody butcher peerage members believed her (not even her parents).

ver since they arrived, those scumbags caused nothing but harm to the devils reputation by sorting out problems they had caused to the populace, bringing themselves glory and respect from them while causing the Devils to lose several dozen contracts. But the worst part was how they saved Issei from his demise and told him all the bad parts of the devil society, swaying him against them and ruining ANY chances of him joining her peerage willingly, even if she killed him and revived him herself Rias knew for a fact that Issei with this knowledge would have fought against her with everything he had either immediately or further down the line. She bet that was why he kept avoiding her and her entire peerage.

She wanted so desperately to barge to Hellsing territory and stop what they were doing, but that would only end up causing more harm to the devil factions. Not to mention swaying favor towards them as a result.

And now, she's facing the consequences: surrounded by some of the deadliest people in the supernatural world. There was no longer any way for her to get out of this unscathed, so she might as well bite the bullet this time.

These thoughts passed through Rias' mind in several seconds, and by the end of them she bowed down deeply in a Japanese manner. "I am willing to accept any type of punishment you have towards me. But please, spare my family, my brother and my peerage."

Meredith stares at her bowing down form before she finally spoke. "Since you are at least accepting the consequences of what you tried to do, unlike what the other devils try to say they are better than us and not accepting the consequences, I will be a LITTLE merciful to you. You are at least decent, only this decent in my eyes. But know this Rias Gremory."

BAM!

"Grh!"

"RIAS!"

"President!"

They cried out her name when Meredith suddenly appeared before the redhead girl. She then raised her right stocking-clad leg and slammed her right high heel down onto Rias head as if it were a hammer, causing the girl's face to slam into the ground. Following this Rias' head got pinned to the floor by that same heel. This had the side effect of making the water sharks withdraw their fangs from Rias' neck, though they still remained by the redhead's side whilst their master arched a brow at Meredith's actions.

Said woman glowered down at the Devil beneath her like an ant, something she believed was more than fitting for filth like her. Her gaze bore down on Rias with enough killing intent and bloodlust to make even Alucard nod his head in approval. "I can kill you, destroy your family and the entire devil population with just but a snap of a finger. I will not tolerate this type of behavior again! I don't want to hear you whine, complain or say it's unfair. I decide whether to keep you alive or have you be dead in an instant." She stopped for a moment as she continues to showed domination to the devils, showing a big example, something unethical for a proper lady like her but like what her teacher taught her.

Sometimes the best way to corner your enemies was with a show of force, to make them reasonably fear you.

Her piece said, Meredith withdrew her foot and stepped away from Rias head before she spoke. "6 o'clock am in the morning tomorrow. You and the rest of the peerage are to be at this location. If anyone of us doesn't see you exactly at that time, then the consequences will be much worse." she declared, gesturing to the Shark King. "I'll let HIM play with you. Fair warning, sharks rip their prey apart with their fangs in a wild blood rage when they're set off." she sneered, a dark smile slowly forming on her lips.

Soon, after that Meredith waved her. "Now begone, I expect to see you by then Ms. Gremory. Don't disappoint me anymore."

As if those words Meredith said were some sort of signal, the rest of Hellsing got up from their seats and grouped up with her intending on deciding how they were going to proceed with the upcoming rating game. They wouldn't bear witness to the devils' reactions to their leaders' words because most of them didn't really give much of a crap. None of them so muh as acknowledged those sad sacks as capable beings let alone threats to them even if they were within their own territory. Not only were they in the presence of this country's REAL rulers who would nto even trust them with a pebble at this point, but any retaliation against them would only end up hurting their reputation even more than it already was.

While walking up to her, Theseus spoke to Meredith with his hands pocketed inside of his coat. "You seemed to have defended Hellsing's honor. Seeing how you put the devils in their place…I can respect that at least." His words, gruff and dark as they were, had a tint of grudging respect towards the auburn haired woman that was impossible to deny.

Hearing them shouldn't have made that pride of hers swell the way it did, but it did regardless. "As they should, for insulting us like this…" The woman sneered, her gaze glancing over to Sirzechs with a part of her somewhat anticipating some sort of strike coming her way from either himself or his queen to silence her. She wouldn't put it past him at this point considering the sheer humiliation she had put him through, and although it would be useless in the grand scheme of things she didn't see the man as someone who paid attention to such things all the damn time.

A snort then escaped Theseus' lips, his prior respect vanishing in lieu of one of his more signature animalistic growls. "Though your still a politician in the end." he snarled, eyes flashing dangerously. "Saying all that shit about teaching the Devils a lesson when in reality you're just gonna leave it to us lackeys."

"That, I won't deny." Meredith smirked, unaffected by Theseus dangerous look while gesturing for them to move out of the living room and towards her office, a more private place for discussion.

Theseus glared at Meredith for a few seconds before he snorted and lost that look on his face. "At least you're honest about it." he acknowledged before continuing to head forward with the group nearly leaving the Devils' sight. Its been a while since he had last trained with the intensity he had in mind, hopefully he hadn't gotten rusty in his combat skills. But before he could ponder ways to sharpen his fangs, Theseus still had some things to say to the woman "You are the Queens granddaughter, you know much more about politics than anyone here. I'll give you that."

"Benefits come from being her granddaughter. Nobles and bluebloods have to know a lot of these type of subjects." She retorted at Theseus, slowing her stride before glancing back at him having taken the lead in leading her subordinates away from the scene. "You are right about me being a politician, you may hate those people which I can understand, but you have to know when you deal with people who fights back with words, politician fight back against them because you know why? They have more than one tricks up in their sleeves."

"I see." Theseus muttered, pondering those words. He dealt with physical fights while Meredith fights people with words, two completely separate battlefields. He had heard from several of the staff back at the Lonon Hellsing manor that women had a way with words that scanned centuries of development due to the difference in rights between the sexes. Theseus began to see their point now.

Unbeknownst to the shark king, his words caused a bout of realization to pop inside Meredith's chest, her eyes briefly widening in response. "Oh, and that reminds me. One thing you need to know about politics…" she began while starting the process of conjuring a communication circle. By the time this had happened the group had left the devils in the living room, each of them believing that they would be dealt with by Inari who had remained with them. None of them had any pity for those poor sods, not one bit. "...is to always have a few tricks up your sleeve, just like in combat." With the communication circle formed above her shoulder, Meredith gave a grin so unlady like that it actually resembled one that Theseus and the more powerhouse members would make. "Oh by the way Gremory, you should know this."

An annoyed, frustrated groan travelled through the Communication circle which perfectly indicated the level of bad times the man was having. "What is that, Ordinton?" he questioned with snarl, though repressed.

"Your attitude being like a child not getting his way aside…" she began, practically DRINKING in his salt like she were sipping on a cup made from Sirzechs' tears, Meredith made the following announcement that sent not only the said Lucifer, but EVERY one of her subordinates as well as the Devils back in the living room and Inari into a state of shocked stasis. "I should inform you that I'll be joining this Rating Game myself."

…

"...EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

Yup, just another day at Hellsing.

Phenex household - Underworld

CLINK!

"FUCK!"

CCCRREEAAK!

"DAMN IT!"

WHOOSH!

"FUCK! FUCK! FFFFUUUUUUCCCCK!"

The sounds of glass breaking, furniture being destroyed and flames burning several stuff to ashes filled the air, their source originating within a large bedroom. Paintings and portraits lay across the floor in tattered pieces, a wardrobe had been tossed onto it's side, spilling out it's contents which were mostly formal clothing in a horrid mess reminiscent of a child's room. Not to mention that the whole thing looked to be on the verge of collapsing with long gashes carved into the walls and ceiling from where the portraits had once occupied, looking like they had been carved by some beast's claws whilst countless scorch marks adorned the ground as if may bonfires had been erected recently. Countless glass shards lay broken and destroyed all over the place, some even having cut into furniture and anything made of wood like the bed frame etc.

The culprit of this mess? Whelp, that title belonged to the third son of the Phenex family, Riser Phenex. He currently stood in the middle of all the carnage he had wrought inside his own bedroom, his body slouched over like the hunchback of notre dame while his hands, bloodied and bruised from the treatment they had been subjected to, regenerated from it as they seemed to be trying to grip the air beneath their palms. Pure madness dominated his expression, his eyes currently bulging beyond what his sockets could contain with many crimson veins being exposed for any observer to see. His teeth were clenched hard like a serpent coiling around it's prey, the rage inside of him being comparable to the glorious flames that he commanded as a member of the Phenex Family.

Although right now just THINKING about this wretched family now threatened to shred what little sanity the man had left.

"How dare they…" He whispered in a low tone of voice, lower lip trembling from the almost godly levels of fury dripping from his words like poisonous venom. He gripped his hands into fists hard enough to cut through flesh and start their bleeding again, even as his regeneration hurried to fix the damage done to them, before he arched his back backward and looked towards the ceiling. "HOW DARE THEY REFUSE THE GREAT RISER PHENEX! THEY SHOULD'VE PRAISED ME IN ALL MY GLORY! AS AN ALMIGHTY PHENEX!" he roared like the original devil himself cursing the heavens and the biblical god for all that they had done to him, flames erupting from his back akin to a jet thruster to further pronounce the fury coursing through his veins. They radiated a heat so intense that much of the material inside the bedroom either got charred or caught fire instantly.

Not like he currently cared about such trivial matters.

The reason for his anger may be considered to have been the recent humiliation that he had suffered at Hellsing's hands. For some reason the injury he had gotten from that punkish bastard who grabbed his head when he was about to get some decent action (since succubi were the sluts of the bedroom) hadn't healed completely yet, which could contribute to this thought process.

However, they would be wrong, not only was his anger towards those mongrels great it paled in comparison to THIS reason for his anger skyrocketing to these heights.

His reason for his anger was his own family.

It had all started when Riser had returned from the human world, looking as pathetic as he had scaring his family's servants shitless. He may have the horrible reputation that he did amongst them (a feat he was proud of) but the thought that someone existed out there who could reduce lord phenex's fourth son like this was an even scarier thought. This fact annoyed Riser immensely and he had intended to screw every maid he could get his hands on to vent his frustrations till he could think more rationally. That had been the intention anyways since most of his Peerage were hard at work with their daily tasks save for a couple, as otherwise he wouldn't have even bothered with those useless christmas cakes his family called their servants.

But that had quickly became the least of his priorities when upon being informed of his return, his father basically stormed into his room and demanded Riser inform him where he was and what had happened to his face.

At this point Riser couldn't have been any more eager to explain the situation that had befallen him to his family. With the prestige and influence that they had, he figured it would have been easy for them to get the payback they deserved for being slighted the way that they had. There was also the fact that the patriarch and matriarch of the phenex clan, his mother and father, were some of the more nurturing Devils in the Underworld though they were greatly surpassed by the Gremory clan in that department. Anyways, Riser had anticipated that they would all side with him unanimously so they could go and pressure the Satan Lucifer to get shit done in retaliation for their troubles using whatever legal loopholes they could find. A society run by Contracts would be chock full of them after all, a fact that Riser knew all too well.

With this process in mind, Riser basically told them everything about what had happened to him, uttering the name of the culprit on who injured his glorious face:

Hellsing.

The moment he spoke out its name, not just his father but his mother, his brothers, the family servants escorting them, practically the whole family froze. One could hear the droplets from their collective sweating as they dripped down to the floor, staining it a darker red than it already was. The very same color as the blood that completely left their bodies with how pale each of them, even their strongest members, became at that name. That one name which spelled terror and doom to those who knew about it.

Not caring for their expressions, he told them how he had challenged the Hellsing in a rating game where he boldly declared he'll defeat all of those abominations.

He expected his family to praise him and encourage him for that declaration of wiping out the Hellsing. He had expected them to be over the moon at the thought of regaining their lost honor and avenging the disgrace brought upon them by external trickery.

In reality, he didn't hear anything of the sort.

Instead Riser was punched in the face…by one of his brothers.

His oldest brother Ruval, who had been the one who sent his fist to have a greeting with Riser's cheek, had been downright furious, livid almost though even that seemed like an understatement. If Riser were a bonfire of emotion at that time then his brother may as well have been a damn forest fire.

It wasn't just him but also his entire family as well. He received a heavy scolding from his father, his usually gentle and maternal mother who had looked at him like she didn't even recognize him as her child anymore, even his older brothers. Not only were they so angry at Riser for Antagonizing Hellsing, but there was also the likelihood that he'd almost lead them to their doom.

Each of them knew very well what the Hellsing organization was like, most of this coming from the rumors, stories and knowledge of their feats. However the BIGGEST source of their information about Hellsing came from their mother, whom according to her had actually met Sir Integra Hellsing herself long ago. From the things she had learned since, it had seemed that the woman hadn't lost any of her edge and in fact it seemed like it had only grown sharper with age alongside experience handling the complex machine known as politics.

In the end, they all officially condemned Riser's actions as a disgrace to the Phenex name, tearing into him without mercy with their proclamation that he would receive zero support from any of them. Afterwards, they just simply turned their backs against him, leaving him to his incoming doom.

All that led to the current situation.

Riser's expression changed from furious and madness to horror and terrified. He fell into a squatting position while holding his head, digging his hands into his scalp to the point where he was close to drawing blood. All the while he gazed intently down at the ground, muttering almost incoherently with a babble reminiscent of an insane person. "Traitors, all of them are traitors." He refused to believe that Hellsing was stronger than the devils, he absolutely ABHORED thievery notion. A group of small, week and fragile monkeys going up agains the supreme race, dominating the entire world. They all should be even grateful that a devil even graced themw with their glorious presence.

"They will see….they will see how wrong they are."

He kept repeating that line to himself while constantly trying to think of some way to have an edge over those peasants. One idea came to his mind which caused his already wide eyes to shrink even further, irises trembling violently. "Maybe…..if I could make a deal with…the old satan faction, they could use anything they can get to slander those pussies in the new satan faction." He remarked with a disturbing smile, complementing the idea which gave rise to the pleasant thoughts of that arrogant asshat Lucifer grovelling before him. "Yes, they can certainly help."

Having reached the brink of madness and paranoia, Riser began contemplating the option of conspiring with the enemy of the New Satan faction, since the said faction definitely won't be much of help since they likely would be just as cowardly as his family. The old stan faction on the other hand, would definitely give their assistance to him if he revealed some important information in turn, as someone with the status and influence that he did Riser would have access to such things. If he gave them such juicy intel, then he'll certainly have their support.

While thinking what to give to the old satan faction, Riser's head lifted upwards somewhat when he heard some footsteps gradually increasing in intensity, implying that their maker was headed up to his room. He ignored it in favor of conspiring a possible alliance with the old satan faction, at least initially.

This soon changed in the following seconds. "Lord Riser?" A feminine voice got heard as well as the blonde man's attention. Riser stopped his mumbling and dragged his hand down his face, schooling his features into something resembling a semi-composed expression before looking up. Looking to his room's entrance, he saw it open to reveal a figure standing behind it, one which he quickly recognized. That figure turned out to be a well-endowed young woman of Chinese descent considering her facial features, with shoulder-length black hair and blue-green eyes. Her hair has two Chinese-style buns on both sides of her head, while the front features bangs that form a slight V-shape across her forehead. Her outfit consists of a navy blue qipao with gold accents, a white sash around her stomach, and black, low-heeled shoes. The qipao was open at the chest area, giving a view of her breasts and cleavage. She also wore black armguards over her forearms… as well as zero undergarments.

Riser looked confused for a bit, before he uttered her name. "Xuelan?"

The girl, one of Risers peerage members, the rook Xuelan began to talk. "I noticed that you are struggling with some idea generating?" she questioned, tilting her head to the side while aiming a confused look at her King.

"You damn slut. Can't you see I'm trying to think?! What did you expect I was doing?!" His confusion quickly gave way to utter outrage at the audacity that his peerage member had to come into his room without his permission. If he hadn't already broken each of his peerage to the point where they were more like slaves/automatons than actual people, he would have incinerated her before she posed a threat to him. He got up from his squatting position and furiously roared at his rook. "No one is expecting the great Riser to defeat the accursed Hellsing! They all turned their backs to me! All of them, my brothers, father and even my own mother! They refuse to see it!"

Being out of breath finally stopped his ranting, to which the blonde devil heaved and gasped heavily for a while before he looked out his room's window, casting his fierce gaze out towards the outside. He could see the images of his family turning their backs on him, causing the man to growl like an animal. Any lingering doubts he had towards the idea of working with those relics were long gone now. "If they won't see it, then I'll might as well consider using the Old Satan faction. Maybe those old devils would help me stand a chance against them.

Xuelan widened her eyes in surprise, shocked at the declaration Riser had made before her. Though soon enough that shock vanished into the abyss that was her broken mind, before it got replaced by worry. She was not affected by his screams and rant as she listens to him like a royal peerage member she is, she had long since gotten used to such treatment to the point where she was numb to whatever he did to her, but that doesn't mean she couldn't think rationally.

She knew the reputation the old satan faction had, even the most idiotic of Devils knew of them and their scheming ways, many terrorist attacks that have occurred across the underworld being rumored to have been orchestrated by them behind the scenes. But since there wasn't any proof (with any witnesses either being suspiciously mute about them or disappearing before they could be interrogated by the authorities) nothing had been done against them.

Thus, it was only natural for her to worry that if Riser attempted to bargain, join or even simply get involved with those shady characters, they will screw her master over at the slightest hint of weakness he showed. Considering the state of mind he was in right now, the woman felt certain that he would definitely show such signs to them like a sheep entering a den of hungry wolves.

Not wanting such things to befall her master out of experience telling her that such things would only make things worse for her, Xuelan quickly got to work in her mind. Her mind raced a thousand miles an hour in a effort to think of some other useful ideas her master could use as an alternative to resorting to those terrorists in all but name.

Before long, her eyes widened briefly as something flashed within her memory, something which she believed her King would definitely benefit from. "My lord, instead of thinking of conspiring..." she began to voice out her opinion to him, briefly pausing to shudder at the look he gave her. It was the look he usually had whenever he was in his 'moods' which always meant severe pain for those who aggravated him. Thus, she quickly resumed so she didn't have to endure such things tonight. "Why don't you buy some stuff from the tao faction?"

Riser stopped his intense gazing for a moment upon hearing those last two words, his form briefly tensing before he slowly turned his attention to the ground. His eyes swam with varying thoughts like fish in a pool, stilll having that expression on his face when he spoke. "The….tao faction?" He repeated those words she spoke in an almost hypnotic manner. He normally wouldn't listen to anyone, especially his peerage member(Expect for his little sister, his family and the satans), but this time was an exception since Xuelan had brought something up that he hadn't considered yet. "Tell me more." He demanded, casting his domineering gaze back towards the rook.

Said rook nodded her head in response. "As you know, in the Tao faction on the mainland of China there's an auction for powerful artifacts from across the supernatural world most of them would participate in the auction which happens every 3 months." She stopped for a moment as to catch her breath before she resumed speaking. " No doubt that there may be something from the auction you can bid on that would help you in your fight against Hellsing."

"Thats…." Riser stopped for a moment to process what his rook as spoke to him about the auction in the tao faction. 'Now that she mentions it, the Tao faction have been getting access to a lot of items over the last few years due to sending agents into other pantheons to obtain black market dealing rights. Those have allowed them to use the black market to shuffle objects both human and supernatural back to their homeland of China, even that damn UK faction isn't an exception to this…' he thought, caressing his chin in contemplation.

The Tao faction, a faction well known for it's brutality, love for domination, and utter ruthlessness. It was a faction similar to the UK one in that sense, although since they lacked an organization like Hellsing they didn't have as much of a reputation. The way they functioned was similar to how North Korea was stuck in the 1500's in terms of technology and quality of life, in that theirs resembled that of ancient china. Their faction functioned in the form of a varied amount of different clans/families that were organized into 'sects' which in turn provided martial arts training to their youths. There was strictly adhered to hierarchy across that faction last he checked, having learned of them during his studies.

A son of the phenex patriarch would not be unknowing of potential external threats after all.

This strict hierarchy gave rise to obvious disparities between the different levels, with some families hogging the majority of the resources and many of them also waging constant war with one another like they were in a constant 3 kingdoms era. None of the progression that happened over the centuries have swayed these people, even the first opium war with the UK didn't sway them much compared to their normal human counterparts. But the most important fact was that they made huge amounts of money with their auction businesses, most of them selling artifacts, pills that they used for this stuff they called 'cultivation' of which Riser never understood and just considered it beneath him, or martial arts scrolls.

That place…

Surely that place might have SOMETHING he could use for his revenge, indeed!

Moments later, Riser smirked darkly. "Thats a brilliant idea!" He cried out loud. Riser should've thought of this sooner. The Tao faction can basically just buy anything as long as you have the right amount of money and he has the right amount of money. "Inform the others! We are heading to China!" He declares before he conjured a magic circle on his destroyed room and walked to it.

Xuelan bows down to her masters orders. "Yes, lord Riser." She said before walking out of his room, her destination being the other peerage members residence.