- 30 minutes later -

After eating a quick but tasty breakfast that Gremory made in order to forget of you-know-what, the redhead and I made our way to the nearest train station as our first stop. Our walk was a pleasantly quite one where no words were exchanged between us, simply due to the fact that neither of us were trying to make any small talk for different reasons. If I could see myself right now from a different point of view, we would just look like complete strangers that so happen to be heading towards the same direction/destination, not travelling companions.

We eventually reached the nearest train station, where we end up inside a small elevator that seems big enough for eight people to fit without any luggage added into the equation. As Gremory took a card from a magic circle, my mind wondered on something else...

Why use a train to travel between worlds?

I've been trying (and failing) to remember/think of the reason why Devils have to ride a literal Express Train to Hell because the more I think about it, the more stupid and pointless the idea seems to be. They have magic circles to travel to nearly anywhere, yet they're using trains in order to move between both worlds? Talk about a serious waste of parts.

Once we reached the bottom, ending up in a massive cave, I followed her on boarding the train that the [House of Gremory] owned. And once boarded, I was greeted by a rather interesting view: Gremory's [Knight], [Rook] and [Queen] dressed very differently from one another.

A true Yamato Nadeshiko is the first thing that came to mind when I laid my eyes on Himejima, even more so than she would normally be in school. Gremory's [Queen] is dressed in a lovely violet yukata that's held together by a red obi, and it did nothing more but highlight her beautiful curves. The yukata covered by purple and white cherry blossoms prints, with more flowers and cherry blossoms of different shapes and colours at the bottom part of the sleeves and rode. And like anyone who's wearing a yukata/kimono formally, she has the tabi and zōri combo instead of the typical geta. If it wasn't for the [Gamer's Mind], I would be so star struck by her beauty that I can be mistaken for a very realistic statue for standing so still.

Kiba, on the other hand, gave off the image of a handsome lady thanks to her dressed in a suit. The suit in question looks very similar the one that her male counterpart wore for Gremory's wedding with Phenex, but a few alterations: She has a tie with a very detailed western sword printed on it instead of a bow-tie, the button undershirt is a light grey colour and the vest is a double-breasted version with two side pockets. In all honesty, even I would think that Kiba's just a very pretty boy rather than a cross-dressing girl if it wasn't for the fact that I know the [Knight]'s actual gender in the first place.

As for Tōjō, her attire is a white t-shirt underneath a sleeveless zipper vest, a black bonnet with the image of a cat on it on top of her head, wristbands with a tiger stripe pattern between pink, white and black. Her black skirt stopped right in the middle of her thigh and black shoes with thigh-high socks that forms the famous Zettai Ryōiki. Despite dressing in a modernly plain manner, she looks really cute right now that I want to pet her-

"Kōjiro-kun." Gremory's voice broke me out of my trancing and forcing me to look at her to be greeted by various expressions from the rest of the team: A scowl from Tōjō, a forced smile from Himejima, a normal smile from Kiba and a 'You should greet your trainees.' look from the redhead.

"...Are you all ready to train your asses off?" Rather greeting them like a normal person, I went straight to business by asking them an important question. While they were a bit surprised, I saw the shift in their expressions before nodding "Good. Now I'll explain my training plan right here because we'll start training after we set things up in Gremory's home." I paused for a second before focusing on [Knight] and [Rook], mostly the former "I'll start with Kiba and Tōjō."

"Please do." Kiba said while the albino nodded.

"In order to improve your shit pain tolerance, you must fight against a strong physical opponent where you must to take hits, whether they're blunt or cuts, and endure the pain and injuries will in combat." I shifted my gaze to the short sack of the group, who narrowed her eyes into a glare... I don't if she somehow knew that I mentally insulted her, or she just hates me that much. Either one seems like a legit reason for her to glare at me "This is where Tōjō comes into play, and will do her training of improving her reflexes as well. She will fill the role of the power-house fighter that will bring the pain to you, while you will fill the role of speedster that attacks her relentlessly to force her to dodge. As for your weapons when attacking Tōjō, that's up to you."

Kiba turned to our kōhai with a smile on her face as she said: "Let's do our best, Koneko-chan."

"Hai, Yumi-senpai." Tōjō replied with a slight nod.

"...Now for you two." I looked at the two seniors of the group, with Gremory looking the most attentive... Now that I thought about it, I never really specify on what series weaknesses the redhead needs to overcome when I roasted the group yesterday other than "Both of you two have the same problems, considering that Himejima needs to train on the physical aspect of the [Queen] buff while you mostly need to have better master over the [Power of Destruction] with a side of CQC. But I can't train bot of you in CQC, will only train together when it comes to training for magic to keep it sharp." I then focused my gaze to Himejima, who looked back with a blank expression on her face "I'll be your combat partner for the most part, but you can take Kiba's place as Tōjō partner from time to time so I can teach Gremory."

"Fufufu~" Himejima giggled while hiding her mouth with her left sleeve "I'll be in your hands, Kōjiro-kun."

I nodded while I looking over the group for a few seconds before holding up two fingers "I'll add another in two warnings. 1) The training plan can change to either become tougher or taking a different approach on getting stronger if the current one is not working for you..." I looked eyes with Tōjō, who narrowed her eyes again. She probably knows my next few words, but I'll say them anyways "And 2) Like I said yesterday, doing this training plan of mine wouldn't secure your victory." I then moved my gaze to Himejima, looked back with a fake smile "Only by using everything in your arsenal, that you can be sure about it."

"Thank you for the reminder, Kōjiro-kun." With that fake smile still plastered on her face, Himejima stood up from her sit before moving closer to me. Once her breasts are a few centimetres away from my chest, we had a strange one-sided stare-down: Glaring at me through eyes closed while I just looked back at her blankly "But Koneko-chan and I plan on proving you wrong and winning that bet we made by defeating Riser-san without using the powers from our respective 'heritage'."

"...Your choice."

- 45 minutes later -

After going through an identity procedure by the train conductor called Reynaldo, the ORC and I proceeded to play a board game called Dice Throne in order to pass the time. While Gremory originally challenged me in a game of Yugioh with one of many her decks, I was more interested in playing Dice Throne when the redhead brought it out from her second bag. While she agreed, she made me swear that I would play against her on a later date.

I was so invested in the game that I basically ignored the dimension wall breakthrough announcement and when Gremory asked me to look out of the window to get a glimpse of the Underworld. I didn't bother since I can just take a look when I go back to the human world.

"Time to roll!" I declared with a smirk, ready to release my die on the table to see the outcome-

[We will soon be arriving at the Gremory main residence.] I stopped my action when the train conductor's voice was heard once again all around the cabin [We will soon be arriving at the Gremory main residence. Everyone, thank you for riding this train.]

"Well, I guess that we couldn't settle on a true winner." I let out a short sigh of disappointment, feeling dissatisfied with the end result since we were down to just two players, Tōjō and I.

After packing away Dice Throne, the group and I stood before the door once the train stop and-

"WELCOME HOME, RIAS-OJOU-SAMA!"

A large gathering of people, ranging from maids to soldiers in a marching band, bellowed the second the door opened up, with fireworks being set off and guns being fired into the sky in the background.

...Did her parents made these guys do this much just to greet and fetch their daughter? How grandiose, but kinda sad in my opinion. If I was in her shoes, I would prefer my parents or any family member to greet and fetch me instead of random people that I don't even know.

I noticed that the maids and butlers started to give way for someone, revealing Lucifuge walking towards us with a beautiful carriage driven by two strange looking horses (not completely sure if they're called horses here) a three meters away from her.

"Welcome back, Ojou-sama." The silver-haired woman greeted the heiress with a short bow "You have arrived early. Above all, it's good that you were safe while travelling." She looked at me for a few seconds, probably wondering why I'm here, before turning towards the carriage "Now then, all family members and our guest, please board the carriage. We'll be going to the main residence with it."

All of us nodded before following the stoic maid to the carriage. While Gremory was getting the majority of the attention from everyone around us, I can tell that some gazes when to my direction. Most were curiosity, no doubt wondering why a human is with their princess and her servants, and even fewer were sending jealous looks because I'm walking side by side with the redhead. I'll pretend that I never noticed them because I'll forget about them eventually since the ORC and I will be busy for the next two weeks.

After everyone got inside, with Tōjō sitting on Gremory's lap the classy for more room, the carriage began to move in a slow but comfortable... But it's rather boring since there's nothing to do but wait for the ride to end.

"...A castle?" I thought out loud upon seeing a massive castle that would look like it came out of a Disney Story. I don't remember why homes for the Pillar Houses were so big since it wasn't touched upon again after its reveal.

"Homes in the [Underworld] are a show of status for the Pillars, to show off the assets of the family in usual fashion." Lucifuge said, answering my unspoken question.

"So a 'Pillar' measuring contest between families every day, huh?" I muttered to myself, not caring if everyone else heard my words "The 'Heads' must be compensation for something else if they're doing this pointless thing."

"...Pervert."

"There's a pervert in all of us, Tōjō. You just haven't seen your own perversion yet." I said in a sage-like manner, purposely screwing with the albino short-sack since it's the actual truth. Issei (with his weird fusion of kindness and perversion) was able to break through Tōjō stone-cold heart and make her act more like a horny cat at times that wants his pillar when they're alone in a room together "Who knows, you might actually learn more about yourself if you two lose the bet."

"We won't lose." Gremory declared, pulling Tōjō closer while petting the girl and looked at me with a serious look on her face "Not to Riser and his peerage, and especially not to you because we plan on winning the bet." Her expression then shifted to a smirk, and I have a feeling that I won't like what she's about to say next "Especially since you have to make a five page back-to-back apology letter to all of us if you lose!"

"...Why am I not surprised that I'm the last person to know that there was a modification to the penalties?" I replied with deadpanned eyes, unamused by this sudden revelation from the ever so sneaky Gremory. Honesty, I would actually be surprised if Gremory didn't meddle with the bet "Fine, then I'll brag you and Kiba into the penalty by having you act like Hana Katsugari from Seikon No Qwaser." I smirked at the look of horror in Gremory's face before turning towards Kiba, who gulped with fear clear in her eyes. I don't know if she knows the character, or maybe she's just basing it off from Gremory's horrified face "As for Kiba, you'll have to dress up like a Dog Maid and act like one."

"WAIT A SEC!" The redhead screamed while Kiba sigh of relief that her punishment isn't as extreme as her [King] "How come Yumi has a normal punishment compared to me!?"

"Karma's a bitch." Was my only response as my smirk turning a bit sadistic, taking pleasure from seeing the redhead squirm within my gaze.

A fake cough brought me out of my state of satisfaction, bringing my attention towards the source to see Lucifuge looking on with unamused eyes before she pointing at something out of the window with her left hand "We've arrived."

I looked out of the window to whatever she's pointing at and saw a magnificent fountain straight put of fantasy anime and a large garden before the carriage door was opened by a butler, who bow upon seeing the heiress.

[Welcome home, Rias-ojou-sama!]

The redhead was greeted by maids and butlers once all of us were out of the carriage, the stood in line on both sides and making a path between them with a red carpet stretched out towards the castle's opening gate.

"Ojou-sama, and all the members of her group and guests. Please, advance forward."

At the [Strongest Queen]'s urging, the group and I began to move with Lucifuge and Himejima at each of Gremory's sides... But the trio was stopped by a speedy and small figure crashing into Gremory, a cute young boy with short crimson red hair and blue.

Millicas Gremory has entered the board... But how?

His father in canon is a woman here, so it's impossible to think of anyone but Lord Gremory to be his father as he possesses the same red hair and blue eyes. But him being Gremory's younger brother is nearly impossible since Devils have low birth rates compared to humans so it would be a goddamn miracle if Lady Gremory became pregnant a few years after Rias Gremory was born if that was the case.

"Rias-nee-sama! Welcome back!" The young Devil shouted greeted while his head is laid on Gremory's breasts.

"Millicas! I'm back!" Gremory greeted the boy with a smile, hugging him tight that his head is now buried in her breasts "You're gotten big, haven't you?"

"Siblings?" I asked Kiba, the person most likely to answer my questions since two members of the ORC don't like me at all, and Gremory is busy pampering Millicas right now.

"Hai, Millicas-chama is the youngest of the House of Gremory siblings." I looked at Kiba in slight confusion, wondering why she used such weird honorific. I mean, I never heard of '-chama' until now "He's considered a miracle child, being born six years after Buchou compared to Buchou and Erica-sama, which a massive 1999 year gap."

"Hmm..." I nodded, understanding why the boy is called a miracle child... The only surprising thing is that Kiba knew the age between the middle and eldest sibling since Sirzechs' age was never really given, it's just known that he's really old.

"Millicas, I like you to meet a new friend of mine." Gremory said while gently directed the boy towards me, who stared at me for a second before laying his head again on his sibling's chest. All that the older redhead did is smile at the middle child and patted the younger one's head "C'mon now, no need to be shy."

...I have a feeling that it's not shyness that's preventing the boy from greeting me like a normally shy kid. Judging by the way he's holding on Gremory like he's going to lose her and glaring at me from the corner at his eye, he probably inherited Sirzechs' siscon trait.

"Sorry Kōjiro-kun, Millicas is usually shy to new people." ...She probably thinks that her brother's siscon is just him being very affectionate towards her, which isn't too farfetched since they are siblings.

Well, I guess that some things are better off unsaid.

"It's fine if the kid doesn't want to introduce himself." It's unneeded as I already know who he is anyways "Anyways, shall we go on?"

The [King] nodded as she and Millicas lead the way to castle, looking like a parent and child walking together instead of brother and sister... Honestly, I would definitely think that they're mother and son if I didn't know them at all.

They passed through the huge gate and then continued as the inner castle gates opened one by one to allow them entrance.

When they arrived at what seemed like the entry hall, Kazuhiko looked around to take in his new surroundings. There was a large set of stairs in front which led to the second floor and a huge chandelier on the ceiling.

I look around with a bored expression on my face before a figure descending down the stairs caught my attention and was surprised to see a Boudica look-a-like, dressed in an attire that looks like a fusion between of Boudica's last ascension attire and UmU's Ball Dress of Roses with bits of Jeanne's first ascension attire:

The attire is mostly coloured in red and silvery white with a dash of gold and black. Her top consist of a white shirt, underneath a crimson double breast vest with a golden trimmed high collar, both trying their best contain her large breasts. On her arms are golden trimmed gauntlets that reach all the way to her elbows. And a crimson cape that's held on her shoulders by red pauldrons with white tips.

The bottom part has a flowery patterned black skirt that's slightly transparent at the tips. A red and white waist cape that's very similar to the Ball Dress if Roses' skirt portion, attached to a silver belt that's held together by a short golden chain. And trimmed greaves covering her long legs that stop a few inches away from the skirt, forming a Zettai Ryōiki just like Jeanne.

"[Observe]."

*Ding*

Character Name: Erica 'Gremory' Lucifer

Alignment: Yōndai Maō, Underworld, Peerage of Erica Lucifer and The House of Gremory

LvL: ?

Profession: Super Devil, Maō of Domestic Affairs

Title: Strongest She-Devil, Crimson Lady of Oblivion, Bloody Mary, Maō Lucifer

Fame: Strongest She-Devil, Crimson Lady of Oblivion, Bloody Mary Maō Lucifer, One-Half of the Strongest Duo

HP: ?/? Regen: ?

MP: ?/? Regen: ?

Still nothing, huh? Looks like I have to work on [Observe] that I can at least see the level of monsters like her... But the Fame: [One-Half of the Strongest Duo] really got my attention because it's the first kind of Fame that I've seen that involves a pair. I never heard of Sirzech having such a Fame in canon, so who could be the other half?

"Rias, your back home?" Maō Lucifer's eyes sparkled in delight upon seeing the younger, making her quicken the pace and reaching the ground floor in seconds.

"...Lucifer-sama." Gremory muttered her sister's title as everyone in the ORC kneeled while Millicas moved to hug the monster in human, who stopped right in front of the middle sibling "How did you know that we would come back home?"

"Oh, c'mon now Ria-tan. No need to be so formal to me!" With a carefree smile on her face and completely ignoring the younger redhead's question, Maō Lucifer pulled Gremory up and brought the younger girl into a hug with Millicas now wedged in between two pair of tits... Wait, why am I even noticing such a pointless thing? "Just call me 'Eri-nee-chama' like you used to!"

"Onee-sama! Not in front of everyone!" Gremory cried out as she tried (and fail) to pull away from the much stronger woman, who only seemed to stop the moment she noticed me...

I have a bad feeling about this.

"Oh? Why did you bring a human here, Ria-tan?" The [Strongest She-Devil] asked, giving Gremory the chance to finally free herself from her sister's grip and releasing their brother from his marshmallow prison.

The middle child cough slightly before pointing her entire at me with a small smile "This is Raiga Kōjiro-kun, one of my cute underclassmen and the person Akeno hired in order to train us for our upcoming [Rating Game] against Riser." I glared slightly at the heiress, unamused the 'cute underclassmen' comment and for leaving out the fact that she herself begged for my help yesterday.

"Train you and your servant for the [Rating Game]?" Maō Lucifer parroted while looking over me with an analytic look in her eyes. Once she's done, she looked straight at me in the eyes before stating her analysis "You don't seem to have trained anyone before, have you?"

"You're right, I don't have any experience in training anyone." I replied with a nod, having no reason to lie at her face "The only thing that I promise is that I'll do my utmost abilities to help them overcome their weaknesses for their [Rating Game]."

"...You seem very serious about it." Seemly satisfied with my response, the older redhead smiled with her eyes closed before holding out her hand towards me "I'll be leaving Ria-tan and her cute servants in your hands."

I looked at her hand for a second, having a bad feeling about grabbing said hand. This is usually the scenario where parent/sibling would threaten the new guy for their precious one... But I do feel that I should shake it since it would be rude to not to return the favour, as a man must always properly greet women, no matter what age or race.

And so, against my better judgement, I took hold of her hand and shook it... And one of the scenarios came to be as Maō Lucifer began to crush my hand by gripping it so hard that it's miracle that it's not destroyed the very instant she tighten her hold. Honestly, it's only thanks to [Gamer's Mind] that I'm can keep on a straight face without giving any sign that I'm in pain at the moment.

"...But let's make one thing clear here, Raiga Kōjiro-kun." ...If Death had a human form and was staring at me in the eyes right now, Death would this person before me. The way she looked at me is like I'm nothing more but a thing to (possible) be destroyed just to protect Gremory, a pile of shit in human form "I'll make sure that not even a trace of your DNA would be left if you try to have your way with my Ria-tan... Do you understand?" The Devil demanded in a soft and eerie voice that only I can hear, gripping my hand even harder than before that I had to strengthen it with [Busoshoku Haki] just to prevent it from getting crushed.

[-1 HP]

[-1 HP]

[-1 HP]

[-1 HP]

[-1 HP]

...

"Crystal. Clear." I replied with gritted teeth, taking the pain instead of trying to pull away because I know that it's useless against someone with obviously superior STR than me, that was earned by training her ass off while talent was merely an added factor for the grew... All I can do right now is hope that she finally let go or someone else saves me from her, with the latter being the most likely outcome.

"Onee-sama, could you let go of Kōjiro-san's hand?" Gremory ordered the powerful woman without a second thought, completely confident that Maō Lucifer will do her command...

And look and behold, the [Strongest She-Devil] did as her sister demanded, letting go of my hand before towards the middle child with a smile on her face while I'm healing my injured hand slowly with a small dose of [Hamon] "C'mon now Ria-tan, no need to be jealous of me giving Raiga Kōjiro-kun some of my attention."

"I'm not jealous."

"Erica-sama." Maō Lucifer's attention shifted from her sister to Lucifuge, who was walking closer to the other monster "You're forgetting that you and the other Maō have the annual meeting with the Heads of the Pillar Houses soon. You should prepare and leave immediately."

"Do you really have to be a killjoy, Grayfia?" Maō Lucifer whined and pout similar a child having their toy taken away by their parent, while her [Queen] just let out a sigh of annoyance like she's dealing with an actual child "I just got to see Ria-tan again since forever! I don't want to leave yet!"

The silver-haired maid responded by pulling on her [King]'s ear before a magic circle formed underneath the pair as she turned towards Gremory "Forgive me, Ojou-sama. It seems I have to escort Erica-sama out of the building." She said all while ignoring Maō Lucifer's cries of pain.

"Please do." Gremory replied just before the [King] and [Queen] vanished before us. With a sigh of relief, she turned towards me and her servants with a small smile on her face "I'll show Kōjiro where he'll be staying. We'll meet up in the old training area after packing our stuff away."

Himejima, Kiba, Tōjō and I nodded, while I let out a mental smirk as my excitement slowly began to rise from anticipation for one reason:

Soon, it will be torture/training time.