(Gremory Territory in the Underworld)

In a castle in the underworld several beings were enjoying dinner together as their maids and butlers took care of everything. As these beings were eating and discussing current events happily eventually a certain subject was brought up.

"So, there are only a few months left before the engagement." Said a red-haired man at the head of the table.

"So it appears. Time seems to pass quite quickly recently." Said a younger looking red-haired man.

"How is Rias doing? I heard that she recently had an encounter with the Fallen Angels. Is everything fine?" Asked a voluptuous woman with flaxen hair.

"She is fine mother. From what she reported to me, she and her peerage along with some new acquaintances were able to deal with the rogue fallen." Said the young man.

The older man seemed curious by the younger's report. "New acquaintances? Who are they?" He asked.

"I don't know much about them myself, as she hasn't described them in any detail to me other than the fact that they are humans. But…" The young man leaned forward and folded his hands in front of him. "From the way she was speaking these people might be the light at the end of the tunnel that she is looking for."

The older pair looked at each other then back to the young man. "So, she is still insistent on not marrying Riser." The woman said, disappointment emanating in her voice.

"She was always strong willed, just like you mother. Besides, I can't exactly blame her considering the type of person her fiancé is." The young man's expression didn't change but his voice made it clear he wasn't pleased with the situation either.

"Well, we made the agreement with a way out for her for a reason. If she is able to successfully break off the engagement then all the problems with this arrangement will be solved." Said the older man while laughing haughtily.

"So you say, but don't be surprised that no matter the outcome if Rias becomes resentful of you father." Said the younger man.

This seemed to catch the older man's attention. "You're not saying she will be mad with me, are you?!" He said almost whining. "How can I make her not mad at me anymore Sirzechs?!"

Sirzechs let out a light chuckle at his father's actions. "The only way you will get in her good graces is if you cancel the engagement yourself."

"That won't happen." Said Sirzechs' mother sternly. "There are too many deals entangled with this engagement for us to just cut it off. Rias' way out was the only consolation we could provide her to get out of this but none of the devils outside the family that are involved with the deal, except for maybe the current Phenex head, believe that Rias will be successful."

"Well, whoever these new allies are, seem to have lit a fire in Rias because I have a hunch that she is going to do whatever it takes to recruit them." Said Sirzechs cheerfully.

His father rubbed his beard with a smile. "I can't wait to see just who these humans are to catch my daughter's interest." He said musingly.

"I'm sure we will see when the time comes dear." Said Mrs. Gremory.

The engagement battle seems like it is going to be full of surprises, seemed to be the consensus of the Gremory family.

Here is a preview for volume 2. I'm sure you all who have read DxD know who these characters are but I wrote this story with newcomers in mind. Since I had my family read this I knew they didn't know anything about Highschool DxD so when I introduce characters I will speak in generalities until they are named. This is so the new people can figure out and learn what's going on. On a different note I saw several comments about how I nerffed the FGO characters or how I could have used a certain servant to take care of everything and all I have to say is that you are correct and wrong at the same time. I didn't nerf any FGO characters and have made several comments previously about how op they are, they are just using enough force to win. If I had the servants fighting at max power all the time there would be no conflict. On top of that this story is more than just anime fights and ecchi scenes, there are, surprise surprise, characters in this story and having the servants do everything would diminish that. The servants are supplementary to the main cast which are the DxD characters and Mashu. And on that point, Mashu would be stronger than most of the cast but you have to remember, Mashu is a defensive fighter, it's literally in her class. She works best as a support for others rather than doing it all herself even if she can. Finally I think the main thing everyone should take away from this is that we all who have read the original story know what's going to happen, but the characters don't. So even if I wrote something different and it wouldn't have affected the plot the characters don't know that. Everyone should be carful not to be a hindsight warrior when reading this story because just because we know what comes next doesn't mean that the characters do. So just be mindful and respectful of that please.