Everyone appeared in an open room with some scattered furniture in it. Ravel who came back with them separated from the group. "Well then, it was nice to meet you all. I have to go check on my brother so until we next meet." She bowed politely and left.
As she was leaving a group of other people approached them consisting of two red haired men, a flaxen haired voluptuous woman, a little boy who also had red hair and another older gentleman with blonde hair and blue eyes who resembled an older Riser. The older of the red-haired men came up to Rias and embraced her. "Rias-chan⁓! Your father was so worried!" The older man spoke to her.
Rias, clearly embarrassed, tried to pry herself loose from the man's hold. "Father, please let go of me! I'm still sore from the battle." She tried to make a believable excuse so he would let go.
The man let go of her and readjusted himself while looking to the entire group. "That was a splendid battle everyone. I honestly didn't know what to expect but you all showed excellent skill in that match. I'm especially impressed with you and your peerage's growth Rias, as well as the Sekiryuutei. I won't say I was expecting you to have Balance Breaker as a human, but it was a pleasant surprise.
Issei was observing the man carefully. He obviously figured out that this was Rias' father but was trying to figure out how to talk to him. He wanted to criticize them for this whole situation but they seemed to care for Rias so he wasn't sure how to act. When the man addressed him he just showed a small smile at his compliment. "Thanks for the backhanded compliment. Is it just a regular occurrence to assume someone is weak just because they're human?" Issei said snidely.
Rias' father just laughed and responded cheerfully. "Sorry sorry. It wasn't meant to be a slight on you. It's simply not a common occurrence, so naturally we would be surprised."
Issei simply narrowed his eyes slightly. Rias was standing to the side nervously looking between Issei and her family. While they were conversing, the blonde-haired man came up and spoke. "Greeting Sekiryuutei. I am Lord Phenex, the current head of the Phenex household."
Issei looked to Lord Phenex and returned the greeting. "Hello Lord Phenex, as you know I'm Issei Hyoudou, the Sekiryuutei and Rias' boyfriend." He put particular emphasis on the last part.
Lord Phenex was looking at Issei calculatingly and showed an amused smile at the obvious provocation. "Now now, there is no need to be so cold. I'm sure from your perspective what we were doing might seem cruel, but we had our reasons for it."
"I'm well aware. I saw the documents relating to the engagement." Issei was giving off a displeased vibe. "You may think you're doing this for the right reason but unfortunately, long term your plan would backfire."
"What do you mean?" Asked Mrs. Gremory.
Issei looked at the group and decided to explain. "Does the term inbreeding mean anything to you?" The group including Rias and her peerage were confused and slightly put off by the question. They weren't sure what this had to do with their plan. "While it would take significantly longer for devils with your long lifespans, if you follow that path of only breeding with pureblooded devils and then limit that to those with noble blood, eventually there won't be anyone left that you aren't related to and I can only imagine what kind of deformities would come from a possible child. You probably would have some devil specific problem crop up as well, but this is only my guess since I don't know how closely devil biology is to human biology. Of course, it can't be that different since devils and humans can have kids together." He remembered the lessons he learned from Nightingale and Asclepius along with his biology classes from both school and Chaldea.
Everyone there was surprised at how knowledgeable Issei was and were also now considering the information they were just provided. They weren't as informed on the subject as a doctor or scientist was so they couldn't really rebuke him.
"Of course, that's just the logistical problem with your plan. It's obviously not the reason why I did it." Issei said while shrugging. "Since you all were watching I don't think I need to repeat myself, do I?"
They all had an awkward look on their faces except for the younger looking red-haired man and the boy who was lost as to what was being talked about. Mrs. Gremory spoke after the moment of silence. "I can understand that you're not happy with how things got to this point but there is more involved than just what was on that paper."
Issei gave an uncaring look to her. "And? What of it? Do members of your family matter so little that you aren't willing to stand up for them? Does fulfilling your duty matter more than your daughter's continued happiness? If this is what a devil noble house that cares for its family looks like I dread to see other nobles."
Rias' mother visibly made an upset face at that. She didn't like the idea of someone questioning her love for her family but seeing how strongly her daughter trained and fought to break this agreement she could understand why she was seen as the bad guy. After some more silence the younger red-haired man walked up to Issei. "Alright. I think that's enough of that. I can understand that you have a low opinion of us Sekiryuutei. That much was obvious from what Grayfia told me after she questioned you. But what's done is done and it's not like we didn't care about Rias. We made the agreement with a way out for a reason after all."
Issei observed the young man. He could feel a dangerous aura coming off him even if it was suppressed. "Yeah, a way out that was essentially rigged from the start. As much as I dislike him, I acknowledge that Riser was strong. If I fought him one on one I don't think I would have won." Everyone was surprised at the confession of weakness from Issei, not expecting that evaluation. "If I hadn't given Rias and the others special training their chances would be slim. And that's being generous."
Sirzechs had an amused look on his face. "Ho ho. Is that what they call brutal honesty? I would have expected you to say something about your comrades in a nicer way."
Issei gave him a wry smile. "Don't get me wrong, comforting lies have their place, but I'm not one to avoid an issue if I can help it. So it's just better to rip the band-aid off and try to do better."
"That is something I can agree with. Being a leader myself, I have to be mindful of what I say, but things would be much simpler if people just said what was on their mind." Sirzechs showed a tired expression. Grayfia to the side of him gave him a small glare indicating for him to stop complaining about work.
Issei saw this interaction and gave Sirzechs a sympathetic smile. "Seems like you have it rough too. You have my sympathy."
Sirzechs smiled back and extended a handout towards him. "Thank you. I know we have been talking for a bit but we haven't even introduced ourselves. I am Sirzechs Lucifer, one of the four Maoh and Rias' older brother. You've already spoken with our father, Zeoticus and our mother, Venelana. And the little one here is my son, Millicas." The Gremory parents bowed slightly while Millicas did a full bow.
Issei shook Sirzechs hand. "It's nice to meet you Maoh Lucifer."
"Please, call me Sirzechs. I prefer it when I'm not at an official meeting."
"Then you can call me Issei."
"Well then Issei-kun, I'm sure you all want to rest after a long-fought battle so I think we will end things here for now. I'm sure we will get to speak more in the future." Sirzechs then leaned in and spoke softly so only Issei could hear. "I also wish to personally thank you for getting Rias out of the engagement, even if you were faking your relationship." Issei showed a surprised face not expecting to be seen through, but from his words he could tell that Sirzechs wasn't happy about the arrangement either and that Issei breaking it up was doing him a favor. "Well then, until next time Issei-kun, everyone." And with that the adults left to hash out the details of the broken off agreement.
Once they were gone Issei let out a sigh of exhaustion. Rias walked up to him slightly worried. "Issei, what did my brother say to you at the end?"
Issei looked over to Rias and smiled. "He thanked me for helping you. He also seemed to know that we were faking our relationship somehow." Rias showed a surprised expression at her brother figuring out their relationship was fake, even though part way through she started treating her time with Issei as if they were really dating. "Well anyways, we should head home. I'm beat and I'm sure Kaa-san and Tou-san want to know what happened." He said lazily. Everyone nodded in agreement and they left back to Kuoh town.
Short and sweet. This and the next chapter are the wrap up for this arc so it's just the results. I might have gotten a bit heavy handed with Issei's criticism of the devils but that was just how it flowed out when I was writing. Besides that, not much of note this chapter, so I'll ask what you all thought of the rating game in its entirety? I look forward to the comments about it. : )