1 New Beginnings

Chapter 1

Prologue

So what if Sirzech and Grayfia had two sons, Marid and Millicas Gremory. What if their eldest son Marid was the same age as the Rias, and what if instead of having 5 strongest youth devils were the face of the next generation of devils they had the 'BIG EIGHT'. Join along the story of Marid Gremory and how he overcomes the boundary and restraints of Devil Nobility to fulfill his dream.

P.S this story starts a few years before the start of our favorite DXD verse!

AND I DON'T OWN ANY DXD MATERIAL, ALL CREDIT TO THE ORIGINAL WRITERS!

Inside protective field

"In just a few moments, we will begin the main event of the evening in the heart of Lilith stadium, a 'King vs. King battle.' A duel between Rias Gremory, daughter of the current Lord and Lady Gremory against Marid Gremory, son of the strongest Devil, one of the strongest beings in the supernatural world Satan Sirzech Lucifer, and his wife, one of the strongest Devil Grayfia Lucifage, for the heirship of the Gremory Clan" the announcer announced proudly as the crowd roared in approval.

While not entirely on the level of the co-main event of the evening, a special blitz-type rating game between Emperor Diehauser Belial and the former Dragon King Tanin, the battle for the heirship of the Gremory clan gained more notoriety than most championship-level rating games. The roaring arena filled with Devils and some underworld deities was proof of it. Many were excited to see the powers of these young devils with such royalty in their blood that few could compete.

"From the right side of the arena, Rias Gremory takes stage to stake her claim as the heiress to the clan Gremory," as the announcer announced a twelve-year-old Rias Gremory took the stage, adored in her red and black battle Regalia symbolizing her legendary crimson hair and the infamous power of destruction. Her skin-tight battle uniform (a gift from her parents and brother), adored with a red cape, earned the approval of many Devils in the stadium.

As it turned out Rias accepted and relished in approval from the crowd as she gave them a slight bow to show their appreciation and support.

"And now, from the left hand side of the stadium, I welcome the son of our Mao Lucifer and his queen, Grayfia Lucifage, one of the members of the eight strongest young devils of the upcoming generation, Marid Gremory" While the crowd roared in approval of the second contestant, the cheers were more polite support to Mao's son rather than genuine support for the young beauty who has multiple marriage contracts coming in just for her looks rather than political implications of marriage with the Gremory family.

Noticing the crowd cheer, Marid Gremory gave a bow curtly, more looking forward to the match than to get more attention to pipe his own ego.

"Who do you think is going to win, Seekvaira?" a young Sona Sitri asked her friend and fellow member of the BIG EIGHT, as people liked to call the next generations strongest devils; Sairaorg Bael, Sona Sitri, Seekvaira Agares, Diodora Astaroth, Cleria Belial, Rias Gremory, Dagon Glasya-Labolas, and Marid Gremory.

"It's going to be a close match than most people think. It all depends on whether Marid knows how to overpower or neutralize Rias's power of destruction. Marid might not have inherited the power of destruction from Mao Lucifer, but that doesn't change the fact that his magical control far outperforms anyone of us and most high-class devils," Seekvaira pointed out to her friend, who could only shake her head in approval of her assumption.

"That may be so dear Seekvaira, but Rias will win this by a landslide just you see. Marid is good but not as good as our Ria-tan or her power of destruction," Lord Gremory boasted, having heard Sona and Seekvaira's conversation.

His callousness clearly angered the duo considering their friend was just being cast aside for not being able to use his powers properly. Sairaorg, along with Grayfia Lucifage and her youngest son; Millicas and accompanying them in the private rating game box reserved for Mao's and their families. Most people in the private box supporting Marid Gremory were pissed off to the point many Devils' part of the security detail for the private Rating game box feared a fight breaking out. Thankfully before something happened, Sona responded to Lord Gremory.

"With all due respect Lord Gremory, while the Power of destruction is powerful and potent, it is not something that can't be dealt with, as recently seen as how Sairaorg, who also didn't inherit his families Power of destruction, defeated his brother to attain his rightful status of the house of Bael" Sona responded coolly which soured Lord Gregory's mood and caused him to return to his seat.

Unbeknownst to them, their conversation and Sona's retort were caught by Sirzech and Grayfia Lucifage, both of whom struggled to keep a smile creeping off their faces.

"Are you ready Marid? I hope you have trained for our match," Rias asked her nephew confidently.

"I am Rias Oba-san" Marid replied mischievously while also slipping into his loose battle stance.

"As you wish Marid" Rias huffed as she slipped into her battle stance, ready to cast the infamous power of destruction on a moment's notice.

"Fighters are you ready?!?" Announcer asked the competitors for the last time before the battle begin. He only received a very subtle nod from both of the competitors.

"Very well then….. BEGIN!!" just as announcer uttered those words, Marid rushed Rias with speed in an attempt to get into her guard. Knowing her, he was certain she would try the battle at a distance where she may have the advantage on sheer potency of Power of destruction.

As if expecting the attack, Rias unfurled her two Devil wings and took the flight in an attempt to give her some space to start casting her heavy spells in order to end this battle early.

'Should have expected her to start running from the get go. She knows she can't beat me in close combat, her Power of destruction is her only advantage in this fight. She might not be as fluid in casting Power of destruction as father or grandmother, but she will be good. Probably should stay quick on my feet, better safe than sorry' he quickly noted as he started to pursue her with some caution as he unfurled his own wings.

"Come on Rias, starting to run already" Marid taunted as he neared her with an intention to kick her in the stomach in an attempt to end this battle quickly.

"You truly are naïve Marid, you are good at your feet, but you never truly understood how to play the long game" Rias taunted back as she unleashed the first attack of the battle when Marid was close enough to not be able to dodge the attack or so she thought.

As the attack incorporated with the legendary power of destruction neared him, Marid didn't show any signs of weakness as he fluidly dodged the attack by clever use of his wings, continuing his pursuit. Marids calmness and absolute fluidity, for someone as young as him, caught Rias off guard as she couldn't defend herself from his punch incorporated with lighting. Due to the power behind the punch and the potency of lightning within the attack, Rias was knocked out of the air.

She struck the ground with some force as her body twitched a little.

"As you said, Rias, I am always good at my feet. Perhaps you are the one who can't play the long game. Well, we can talk about that later, but for now, do you yield?" Marid asked with absolute calmness as he landed gracefully in front of her.

Private box

"Well, that's what I am talking about," Sairaorg roared in approval as his best friend took the first clean strike of the battle.

"Now, the real battle begins," Serafall Leviathan added her two cents.

"What do you mean, sister," Sona asked, bewildered, having not yet understood subtler forms of battle. In response to her sister's question, Mao Leviathan turned to her with a beaming smile and explained that while the match had officially started a while ago, it is after the first hit that the battle truly begins on both fronts, with one's mind and battlefield.

"There is a famous quote among humans Sona, 'everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face' This could be taken figuratively as well literally" Serafall, acting as a good big sister, educated her sister and her friends who could only sagely nod at her explanation. While the kids were impressed with her sound advice, the adults were bewildered at her Buddha-like attitude as this was not something like her.

"That does make sense, thank you onee-sama" Sona gave her sister a slight bow.

"No-Problem So-chan" Serafall replied now all giddied up, hugging her sister tightly earning a massive blush.

"ONEE-SAMA" Sona screamed from pure embarrassment.

"Well there is the Serafall we know and love" Sirzech, her fellow Satan, chuckled as his wife sighed at Serafall's antics while keeping a keen eye on the match.

Inside the match

"Turns out that strike did a number on you Oba-san. You sure you want to continue?" Marid chuckled as he waited for his opponent to rise from the crater, he sent her in. Within the next few moments, another Power of destruction attack came his way. The suddenness and subtleness of the attack caught Marid off guard, forcing him to retreat after making several layers of ice walls to stop the attack.

"You may have caught me off guard with that punch, but it's going to take a lot more than that to put me down," Rias replied to her nephews taunting with a barrage of attacks made up of elemental magic and Power of destruction.

'Ah looks like she is trying to play too long a game here. Not going all out with her precious power of destruction means using that power takes more out of her than she lets on. Well, exhausting her now is going to be a pain' Marid quietly noted as he took to the sky, bobbing and weaving through her attacks. Some of them came close to hitting him, but he could not get hit at the expense of not being able to close the distance between him and her.

Suddenly noticing a small window of opportunity for an attack, Marid quickly rotated his body to dodge another ball of power of destruction only to cast a barrage of ice spells at the fire ball Rias just threw at him. A sudden collision of ice and fire magic made a makeshift smokescreen around Rias. Now expecting a sneak attack from Marid, she closed her eyes and focused her senses on locating Marid. Her focus soon paid off as she felt a change in the movement of air surrounding her someone was closing in on her and sounds of devil wings zipping through the air behind her all but confirmed her suspension.

"Gotcha!!" Rias screamed confidently as she casted a massive ball of power of destruction when she felt that her opponent was close enough not able to dodge her spell this time.

"Shit!" Marid cursed as he braced himself for the pain he was sure would follow. In the few milliseconds he had before the attack hit, he started creating walls of ice magic to prevent him from taking too much damage or, worse, retired.

The very second the attack, there was a boom signifying Rias's attack hit her mark. Rias took it to air again to start another wave of bombardment with a mixture Power of destruction and elemental magic within. Within the next few seconds sound of ice cracking went throughout the stadium, that Marid's last line of defense had indeed fallen. Taking it to advantage, Rias increased her bombardment spells to retire her nephew quickly. While she believed this was a coward's way to win this battle, this battle was pushing her to her magical limit, and she didn't like it much. She knew if this battle didn't end quickly, she would be in big trouble.

Private Box

"She truly is going for the win, isn't she" Sairaorg commented with disapproval. While he understood a win is a win, especially in a public setting like this one, but as a martial artist, he couldn't help but disapprove of her cousin's path to win this match. While many in the room may agree with him, unfortunately, others did approve of the brutality of the attack.

"There you go Ria-tan, you got him where you need him. Just keep up with the attack he will retire soon," Zeoticus Gremory roared in approval of her daughter's attack. His callous behavior again earned him a look of disapproval from Lady Gremory, who now worried about her grandson's safety, and a stern glare from Grayfia Lucifage, who was also getting a little worried about her own son's safety.

"Don't worry dear, he will be fine" Sirzech kissed his wife to reassure her that their son would be fine.

"How can you be so calm about this, Sirzechs? You know what kind of effects. The power of destruction has on Marids body. He hasn't retired yet, which means he is still in there" Grayfia voiced her concern to her husband, almost ready to recommend ending the match to save her sons life.

"I know, dear, I know, but he is our son, and we need to believe in him. And while you are right that the infamous power of destruction has a terrible effect on Marid, this effect only is a one way effect so to speak," Sirzech advised her wife, earning him a confused look from her.

Knowing she would want answers he continued, "As you know, Marid is not able to properly harness the power of destruction as to what others think that he didn't inherit the power from me. While using Power of destruction does damage him, it doesn't affect his tolerance to it." Sirzech spoke loud enough that her wife was the only that could listen in.

"You mean?!" Grayfia's eyes widened.

"So you have caught on; while Marid can't use Power of destruction without hurting himself, he still can tank the hits; in all honesty, his tolerance for Power of destruction attacks is as high as a powerful high class devil, which is astounding considering how young Marid truly is," Sirzech explained it to his wife.

"He can't use Power of destruction without damaging himself but has a high tolerance for its attack? How is this possible, I haven't heard of this kind of phenomenon ever!" Grayfia asked her husband quietly.

"Me neither. It feels like he wasn't meant to use Power of destruction but something else. Whatever it is, it is something we haven't seen before. I have asked Ajuka to look into this. Maybe he will have an answer soon. If not, we can add this to Marids quirks," Sirzech chuckled as his wife nodded in agreement as the couple returned their eyes to the battlefield.

Inside the match

"Looks like the match might be coming to an end people!! Rias Gremory caught her opponent off guard and is using her window to its maximum potential…." Announcers announcement was cut off by influx of power felt within the battlefield.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" a powerful roar shook Rias a little as she sensed power growing within the blast zone she was ruthlessly attacking. Suddenly, Rias bombardment was cut off by a 10 feet wall of ice present between her and her target. To her surprise, her elemental spells didn't do much damage to the ice wall. Even her power of destruction barely put a crack through the shield; something it should have done.

"What the hell!?!" Rias exclaimed as she saw her spells do no damage causing her to stop her bombardment to review the developing situation and conserve stamina.

Within the next few seconds, the ice wall collapsed revealing Marid with a few burns and bruises over his body.

'After all of that he is barely hurt. Even being One-sama and Grayfia one-san son, he should have at least gotten more damage than what he is showing right now.

"Lets get rid of the kid gloves Rias and end this" Marid spoke seriously. Face absolute serious, all signs amusement gone from his face.

'Kids gloves??!?, I have been using my full power since the start of the battle, this is going to be either a very long or a short battle from here onwards' Rias thought baffled.

After that, Marid rushed in forwards re-engaging Rias in the battle. Both of them now using their full extent of their magical arsenal. Rias using her power of destruction without any restrictions, now knowing that the time of holding back and reserving stamina has gone. Marid on the other hand using his vast arsenal of elemental and ice magic, holding nothing back. Both of them fought with such intensities that it not only shocked most of the adult devils in the stadium watching the fight also intimidated a lot of fighting class, high class devils.

No matter who won this battle, everyone knew one thing for certain that the next generation of Devils will be very powerful.

"It looks like round 2 of this battle has now started. The intensity our fighters are fighting at, one thing is clear that this is their final engagement!" One of the guest commentators commented on the battle that they were watching. It was clear that the end was nigh.

"I have to admit, for a spoiled princess, you are actually good" Marid taunted as he dodged a Power of destruction blast.

"You are not bad yourself, it looks we are even, even if you don't have not inherited Power of destruction" Rias taking a dig at him herself. Both of them were exhausted and were doing whatever they can to ensure their victory, even if it meant using mind games and shooting low blows at each other.

"Whatever you say Rias, whatever you say" Marid taunted back condescendingly as he returned fire with volleys of his elemental magic towards Rias.

"Before this battle ends, I want to ask you a question Rias. Why do you want to become the heiress Gremory?" Marid casually asked Rias the question while return firing at her. The question caught Rias off guard resulting in her getting hit with a well-timed lightning strikes to her leg and chest.

"Well firstly unlike someone I am the inheritor of the Power of destruction which makes me a better candidate for our family" She replied bitingly after somewhat recovering from the attack.

"AH, and what is the second reason?" Marid asked while barely dodging the barrage of Power of destruction blast heading his way.

"Well its not really a reason, it is just that I know I will be a better Lady Gremory than you will be a Lord Gremory" Rias replied a smirk causing Marid to give her a understanding nod.

"So why do you want to be the heir to Gremory" Rias asked Marid, genuinely curious of her nephew's intentions and goals.

"Defeat me with your own power and I will reveal my reasons for requesting a battle for the heirship of our family" Marid replied mysteriously.

However, before she could reply, Marid increased his magical blast by two folds. While his magical blast weren't as potent as the legendary Power of destruction, they were angled in such way that they redirected Rias blast away from himself. Along with cleverly neutralizing Rias blast, Marids clever use of magic also allowed a clear path for his blast to reach Rias. This caused many thunder and ice spells to strike home which resulted in Rias receiving heavy damage. As a result of the sudden increase in magical output, the tide of the battle swiftly changed in Marids favor to the point where many believe the match should be stopped to protect Rias from serious harm. It may not that serious compared to other injuries sustained in rating games, but she was a sister of a Satan, and by all accounts still a child. Marid kept up his assault for a few minutes during which Rias did her best to defend and retaliate against Marids attacks.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn't doing as well as she had hoped as many of his blasts had gotten past through her defenses. She was sure her skin had burned around her thighs, smell of burnt flesh was clear indication for it. This is not even counting the stinging pain she felt in her ribs, indicating that waves of ice magics had done more damage than it looked.

After giving Rias a taste of her own medicine, Marid stopped his mini assault and waited in the hopes for Rias resignation from the match. Much to his and everyone else's surprise, Rias didn't resign from the match and managed to kept herself in the air despite the blood loss from her big hole in her shoulder due to an ice strike and tremors going across her body due to potent thunder spells from Marid.

"So the questions is asked again, do you yield Miss Gremory?" Marid asked again, lowering his guard watching Rias condition.

"N...no" Rias was barely able to get the word. Between the blood loss, tremors going across her body, and her exhaustion of her magical tank, she was finding it very hard time to keep herself afloat.

"Well looks like I have to land the final hit, something I don't want to do, but a battle is a battle" Marid sighed as he rushed in to land the final blow.

Much to the surprise of everyone, Rias didn't move but smirked as a small red crown decorated with flowers appeared on her head just as Marid was close enough to land the final blow.

While the members of the audience didn't understood the significance of the crown or what was going on, up in the private box, the crown had sparked an entire argument regarding the legality of the use of family jewel in a match for the heirship of that family.

Private Box

"Here I had thought this match was supposed to be kept clean and free of outside intervention Father." Sirzech Lucifer calmly questioned his father and the current head of the House of Gremory.

"I am the Head of the Gremory family I gave Rias permission to use the Family relic in her upcoming battle as I had deemed her worthy of the use" Zeoticus Gremory replied, disinterested in justifying himself any further.

"You gave Rias The relic in a battle that was supposed to test her magical knowledge, resilience, and worthiness as heiress to the Gremory family" while Sirzech's tone was still calm, the sudden shift in magic in the room demanded Zeoticus Gremory to take things seriously from here on onwards.

"After showcasing her wisdom and vision for our House, I had deemed her worthy to wield the Relic of the progenitor of the House of Gremory" Zeoticus elaborated further as he couldn't just wave a question from a Mao, despite the Mao being his son.

"I wonder what you didn't saw in me during the civil war that you see in my dear sister. After all your approval to my worthiness could have helped save a lot of lives during the many battles in the civil war" Sirzech now spoke in ice cold tone reminding his father again of his shortcomings during his own childhood.

"Son.." Zeoticus didn't had time explain himself as his son interrupted him.

"The times of regrets have come and gone, all we can hope is that the next generations doesn't go through what we had to go through to achieve peace and prosperity for our people" Sirzech interrupted his father from making public spectacle.

Now chastised, Zeoticus refocused his attention to the battle in front of them while the remaining Satan's and the members of the Anti-Satan fighting force remembered the loss of life during the civil war. Something they still haven't recovered from, which is why many remaining members of the pillars were arranging marriages between their houses and other purebloods to make sure they didn't lose their way of life. While the Devil population was still better than their arch nemesis, the Fallen Angels, it still took a long time for Devils to reproduce. There was an active concern regarding this to the point where the current Satan spent a lot of resources to create fertility potions to increase their numbers. Not to mention their willingness to spend extra resources to buy spies within Old Satan Factions, Angels of Heaven, and Fallen Angels to limit the chances of a terrorist attacks, causing more loss of life. Many Devil philosophers believed another major war could end the Devil race for good. While the Satan's tried their best to limit these concerns, they were never able outright deny the cause of such concern.

The young Devils, hearing the one sided confrontation then the verbal beatdown looked at each other and promising themselves to look into the details of the Devil Civil war to find out what truly had happened. Something more realistic than the PG Devil history books or the famous and only Devil civil war Films; the love story of Sirzech Gremory and Grayfia Lucifage, how they found love and fought through the civil war to live together.

Inside the Match

'What in the hell is that crown?' Marid thought indecorously as he sped up to catch Rias before she has a chance to use her crown.

'I am ashamed to use this path to victory, but a win is a win Marid' Rias quickly apologized to Marid in her mind before activating the crown in her head.

Within that very second, both Marid and Rias were enveloped in a bright crimson light. A few seconds later when the light disappeared, Marid stood a few inches from Rias, by the looks of it in a trance. Taking advantage of the opening, Rias sprung back and used all of her remaining magical power to knock Marid out, as she was completely drained from fighting Marid and using the crown.

The final burst of energy from Rias knocked Marid out of the sky, leaving him down for the count. As seconds passed, the audience waited in the anticipation of confirming such a come from behind victory. At the end of the tenth count the announcer thunderously announced Rias as the winner of battle and the new heiress of the Gremory family.

"And there you go ladies and gentlemen!! With that strike Rias Gremory has won this battle and hence the right to become the Heiress to the Gremory family" the announcer announced with the crowd roaring in approval of the battle between two of the strongest Devils of the next generations. While the battle couldn't be compared to the professional 'King vs King' and 'Rating game' matches, it still gave everyone an idea how powerful the next generation of Devils would look.

"There you go son while Marid is clearly powerful his lack of discipline and inability of attaining the legendary power of destruction has become his downfall in this battle, I only hope he gets serious in his life and stop disrespecting our family" Lord Gremory sighed with obvious disappointment on his face. While he was happy that his daughter was the heir to the claim after his son, Sirzech who had to vacate that title when he became the Lucifer and the leader of the Devil kind.

While his harsh words didn't faulter the laid back character of his son, it did in fact earned him a nasty cold glare from his own wife which gave him a shiver down his back.

"Marid might not be able to control his power of destruction as well as Ria-tan, he did in fact has shown me a great skill in elemental magic especially ice magic which he inherited from his mother. Ria-tan may have won this battle but I wouldn't be too sure of the outcome the battle should they decide to run this again sometime later on or should they meet in a rating game once both of them matured" Sirzech replied coolly to his fathers words, indirectly also saving Zeoticus from wrath of his wife.

"You defiantly are right about that dear boy, Power of destruction might be one of the dangerous elements available to the devil kind, it defiantly isn't almighty. I am interested to see their rematch once both of them have matured. It is safe to say the future of the next generations of devils looks to be very bright" Lady Gremoy also added her too cents in the conversation while giving a pointed look to her husband.

"Indeed" Grayfia said coldly before entering the game field with her husband and friends of the combatants who wanted to check on their friends and send out a round of congratulations to the pair for match well fought.

"Yes, I won! I won! I won!" Rias said joyfully while jumping in delight of having won her first real battle and the tittle of the heiress for her clan.

"That you did Rias, that you did!" Marid got onto his feet while dusting off his battle robe, a gift from his parents.

"Well here is to a match well fought" he congratulated her with as much humility he could muster or so Rias and most people thought. Afterall he was covered in minor burns and bruises excluding the chunk of shoulder missing due to Rias final attack that ended their battle. Rias on the other hand had severe burn marks all over her body, her battle uniform (a gift from her parents and brother) ripped from sleeves and, and tremors across her body which came after Marids impressively powerful thunder attacks. Not to mention the blood she lost due to Marids powerful ice magic It is safe to say despite losing the final battle, Marid came out of this battle better than his opponent.

"Well fought indeed Marid you are extremely skilled in elemental magic, Moreso in ice magic, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering Grayfia is the strongest female devil after Lady Serafall Leviathan" Rias commented on his power, significantly impressed considering he had pushed her to her breaking point by the end of the battle without the use of the infamous power of destruction. If he were able to use it she wouldn't have stood a chance.

By this point the others who were permitted to enter the field (Rias and Marids parents and their friends) were coming forward to congratulate the duo for giving everyone an impressive battle and Rias for earning her tittle.

"It was a terrific battle you two, it definitely showed me that I have to keep up with my training to stay the strongest youth Devil" Sairaorg congratulated both combatants while giving a pointed look at Marid which was noticed by Sona.

"It was indeed an amazing battle you two, I extremely proud of you both" Sirzech also congratulated both his son and sister for a well fought battle. While both of them accepted his praise with humility, both of them were suitably annoyed by the big hug Sirzech gave to both of them.

"It was indeed a good battle my son and Rias. The future is truly bright for you both" Grayfia congratulated with a proud smile while cradling her newest born, Millicas Gremory.

"Thank you Mom and Dad, I wish I could have gotten the win but it is what it is" Marid replied almost disinterested in the result. While his attitude shocked many people still watching the interaction, it didn't faze his parents or Sairaorg who knew him well enough to understand his true feeling on the topic.

"Anyhow the celebrations will start soon and carry on after the Pillars meeting where Rias will be re-introduced to the Devil world as the heiress to the House of Gremory" Sirzech announced before teleporting both Rias and Marid to the local Sitri Hospital for treatment.

Few Days Later

In the empty courtyard of the Lucifer Manor sat Marid in a deep meditative state. Now fully healed from the injuries he sustained during the 'Match of the strongest youth', as the media had dubbed it.

A figure hidden in the shadows observed Marid in his meditative state until Marid called the hidden figure out.

"Your lack of subtleness is painful to watch, Sairaorg," Marid commented, now opening his eyes and slowly coming out of his meditative state.

"I should know better than sneak on you, Marid, or maybe I should just be better. I haven't decided which category I lie in," Sairaorg replied archly while giving Marid a look that suggested he should start taking this conversation a little more seriously.

Knowing he could not waffle out of this predicament, Marid stood up and turned to his best friend.

"What are you talking about, Sairaorg??" Marid asked curiously.

"You don't play around with me, Marid; you and I both know you threw your match against Rias," Sairaorg said as he went straight to the point.

"No Sairaorg I didn't threw that match. I didn't think Rias would have gotten me when she used the Legendary and previously believed 'Lost' crown of the Runeas Gremory on me. To be honest, I wasn't expecting Zeoticus to temper the match like that. I guess I overlooked their hunger for victory," Marid dismissively commented as we walked back to his room with Sairaorg hot on his tail.

"It wouldn't have come to it if you had taken the fight seriously from the get-go," Sairaorg said while following Marid into his room.

"Sairaorg, she might have won the battle with an unfair disadvantage, but that doesn't change facts. At the end of the day, she wanted that title more than me," Marid sighed as he conjured multiple magic circles to transform his training clothes into more formal attire, which he required for the pillar meeting, which he was now officially late to.

"No matter what you say to me, that still doesn't change the fact that you threw that battle," Sairaorg said, now annoyed that his best friend wasn't taking this seriously. His reply caused Marid to turn around and look at him impassively for a minute straight.

"Sairaorg, a good king knows how to fight, but a wise one knows when to," Marid commented with a straight face. Looking straight at Sairaorg could see the wheels turn inside his head, trying to figure out what he had meant.

"Who was it for you?" Sairaorg asked disbelievingly now that he knew what his friend was getting at.

"Ravel," Marid chuckled before continuing his preparations.

"Well, I guess congratulations on executing your plan to perfection," Sairaorg said amazed by Marid's intuitive leap in logic.

"Well, I would have hoped it was done to perfection, seeing as you figured it out, I am willing to bet my parents had figured this out as well. You know what, now that I think about it Sona might have figured it out as well, considering how observant she is" Marid thought out aloud.

"Well these are the people we all trust, probably more so than my own father," Sairaorg replied with a hint of anger in his voice, not directed at Marid but someone else. His reply caused Marid to turn around and gave him a friendly nudge and to remind him of their promise to Sairaorg's mum.

"Now if your questionnaire is done, we should probably head to the pillar meeting. Considering we are late, we probably won't have to answer any idiotic demands of Zeoticus or the elders," Marid groaned as Sairaorg laughed at his friend's expense.

"Here, I thought you didn't care about their opinion," Sairaorg chuckled as he activated his invitation to the pillar meeting. Marid is doing the same.

"You thought right, I don't!!" Marid replied as both of them chuckled before vanishing in the magic circle; heading to pillar meeting.

72 Pillar meeting

"Well, everybody looks well dressed," Marid said in disapproval. His friend beside him could only laugh at his expense, considering his knowledge of Madrid's hatred for formal events.

"Well, it could be worse! You could be running the entire show" Sairaorg laughed as he pointed out Lord Agares dishing out orders to his servants. After all, this time, 72 pillar meeting was happening in the flying city of Agares.

"True," Marid chuckled as he moved forward to greet his friends/ members of the BIG EIGHT, as the media had dubbed them.

"Look who finally showed up" Rias smirked as she saw her nephew and cousin coming towards them.

"I try to spend as little time in these events as possible. By the way, ladies, you all look lovely," Marid replied with a slight bow. Unknown to him, he earned a little blush from Sona and Seekvaira. However, both of them were able to recover before someone noticed.

"Everyone knows how much I hate these formal events. Other than to show their political power, these events provide little to no benefit," Marid made a face while grabbing appetizers from the dishes that the Devil servants of the Agares family distributed.

"Well, luckily for you, the Elders haven't arrived yet, so we all should be fine for now," Sona said distastefully, as she knew how much they all hated the Elders of the Devil Nations.

Elders were the old Devils that were part of the 'First generation' Devils and had fought beside the original Satan's against the God of the Bible. All those Elders belonged to the original 72 pillar families, some of which were part of families that are now labeled extinct. The Elders were led by Zekram Bael, the commander of Original Lucifer's army, founder of the House of Bael, and the first Devil produced by Lucifer and his wife, Lilith. Although it had been a whole millennia since the last war ended, Zekram Bael being the original Lucifers commander, just alone on that fact he had more political power than the Satan's themselves. Thankfully, the Satan's and the Elders could come to an understanding for the sake of survival and peace in hell.

Many Devils, including the Satan's and members of the pillar families, believed that the Elders were an unnecessary part of the Devil's political system because the Satan's wanted to move forward from the old ways with the Elders, who tried to keep their power over the 72 pillars and stick to the old way. While the current Devil Kings could overthrow them, their support over the Old Satan Faction leaders was the only reason they hadn't done anything yet. Even then, everyone knew this was a shaky alliance and would break should the other party go against others' laws.

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of Elders, followed by the four Satans and their Queens resulting in everyone stopping their conversations and rising in respect for their Leaders.

Soon the 72 pillar meetings were underway, which discussed the topics relating to the increasing number of feuds happening at the border of the Devil and Fallen Angel territory. After a few hours, the meeting was brought to the primary purpose of the meeting.

"As we all know, today's 72 pillar meeting is special since we will be swearing in Rias Gremory as the heiress for the House of Gremory," Lord Beelzebub announced formally to the crowd.

"Lord Gremory and Rias Gremory, please come forward," Sirzech Lucifer spoke formally. Any hint of familiarity between his father and baby sister was gone since he was not acting like a Gremory. He was working as the undisputable Lord of the Devil nation.

Lord Gremory and his daughter made their way through the crowd and then bowed in front of the leaders of their people.

"Lord Gremory and Rias Gremory kneel," Sirzech said as they kneed before their King.

"Do you, Lord Gremory accept this mantle as one of the pillar families of hell, do you put your interests aside for the greater good of hell, and do you always promise to keep the peace between the different levels of the Devil Society?" Sirzech said as they looked toward the head of the Gremory family.

"I do!" Lord Gremory said without hesitation. Resolidifying his oath to the pillars and the Devil Kings.

"Rias Gremory, as the Heiress of the Gremory Family, do you undertake all these responsibilities that the Lord of your house has agreed to after he steps down as the head of his clan? Do you agree to represent the Devil society as a young member of the 72 pillars and treat any rating game and marriage with respect" Sirzech Lucifer said as he looked down on his baby sister as the new Heiress of the Gremory clan.

"I do, Lord Lucifer" Rias bowed further, reaffirming her loyalty to the pillars and the Devil Kings.

"So without further due, as Lucifer, The King of Devils, I welcome Rias Gremory among the 72 pillars as an heiress to the House of Gremory," Sirzech announced as the meeting hall erupted in applause to welcome the new Gremory Heiress among their ranks.

"However, before this meeting is adjourned, we, the Devil Kings, have one more announcement. Marid Gremory, Rias Gremory, and Sairaorg Bael, please come forward," Sirzech Lucifer suddenly announced, catching many off guard, including the Elders.

Recovering more quickly than most people, both Sairaorg and Marid made their way forward to respond to their Devil King.

"After seeing your dreams and vision for the future, along with witnessing your powers and conviction for someone so young, the Maos have decided to reward you three," Sirzech Lucifer announced with a small smile. After Sirzech's announcement, Ajuka Beelzebub walked in front of three young devils with three prestige-looking pouches.

"We have watched you three grow from your earliest days to become Devils of power and wisdom. We have seen you three showcase the great vision for the future generation of Devils and earn respect from your peers and your elders. We deem you three worthies of having your very own peerages with great pride. It is our wish you do not stray from your path and work towards the betterment of the Devil kind," Lord Ajuka Beelzebub announced as he handed the three astonished young devils their Evil pieces and inserted their king pieces within them.

The sudden announcement shocked not only the Devils part of the ceremony but also the Elders of the Great King faction as they were also not kept in the loop of Mao's plans. While the others, including Rias Gremory and Sairaorg Bael, looked at each other in astonishment, Marid, on the other hand, glanced at the other Satans before observing his father. A moment was all it took for him to understand that, like himself, the Satan themselves enjoyed messing around with the older Devils.

"We thank you for your support and belief in us, our Lords. We will not let you down" Marid bowed to the four Devil Kings, but not before elbowing his peers to wake them up from their stupors.

"Thank you, My Lords."

"We will not let you down!"

"See that you don't! With this, I, the Lucifer, Leader of the Devils, adjourned this 72-pillar meeting," Sirzech Lucifer announced at the end of the meeting. At the end of the ceremony, the Devil Kings left through magical circles, followed by the Elders and the rest of the families until nine Devils remained.

"Well, congratulations are in order," Celria Belial smirked as she walked toward her friends.

"They are true," Seekvaira said as she walked towards the newly appointed Kings.

"I wasn't expecting them to do that, honestly. Not going to say I mind it, though," Marid said as he looked at his evil pieces.

"Right, you are on that, Marid," Sairaorg agreed with his friend as he looked at his own evil pieces.

"I can't believe they gave you three of the Evil pieces. If there is anyone who deserves to get them, that is me," Zephyrdor Glasya-Labolas sided at the group from afar. While his comment did nothing to affect Sairaorg and Marid, it angered others.

"Well, if you could fight for heirship for our house, you would have also gotten your own evil pieces. But as I remember, you spent the last few weeks in the same room as your own cousin," Dagon replied distastefully to Zephyrdor, who was too mentally crazed and violent to be even considered a candidate for the heirship. This is why his parents considered their nephew the heir of the family rather than their son. Also, being a little brother of the current Mao Asmodeus played a factor.

"Why you?!?!" Zephyrdor growled before starting to amass his power to fight against his cousin. However, before he could do anything, he was stopped by the Astaroth heir.

"That is enough, both of you. There is no reason to embarrass your family over here," Diodora said calmly, as it was in his nature to be stern.

"Yes, please, both of you shut up. The last thing I need is two knuckleheads fighting in the meeting hall," Marid said while rubbing his head.

While Zephyrdor wanted to respond, he couldn't take on all members of the big eight together. Maybe Dagon, but the others were a stretch. That wasn't even considering the three newly appointed Kings, who were more powerful than a newly promoted High class Devil despite being so young. SO begrudgingly, he teleported away, but not before giving his cousin a stink eye.

"Well, I do apologize for Zephyrdor behavior. I cannot help but admit that he might have been right about one thing. Although you three might be powerful, you shouldn't be given your evil pieces this soon. Might as well give all the young Devils their evil pieces," Diodora said with a frown.

"I am sure Satan's had their reasons Diodora." Sona argued back.

"Or it might be a political maneuver to disrespect the Elders even more than they already had," Diodora said in anger before teleporting away in his own magical circle.

"It always surprises me how much he supports the Elders over the more rational Satans. That's not even considering Uncle Ajuka is his brother," Marid, surprised.

"You should call a Satan by his proper title Marid," Sona said disapprovingly.

"Oh, come on, Sona, Ajuka is my Godfather, so calling him Uncle is alright despite the fact he is a Satan. And I feel it is far more acceptable for me to call my Godfather uncle rather than my godmother 'Sera-chan,'" Marid teased back, causing Sona to gain a massive blush. Seeing her best friend in such a predicament, Rias came forward to save her from further embarrassment.

"So what are we going to do now? Celebrate?!?" Rias asked her friends.

"We can have manga night?" Seekvaira asked hopefully, trying to stop her gleefulness from coming out in full force, but it was a lost cause.

"No, you guys go on and enjoy. I am going to train," Sairaorg said while looking at his friends before teleporting.

"Me too. I have things I need to work on and some goals that need to be fulfilled. I will head out as well. You all have fun," Marid said before turning around and walking away from the group.

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"Well, see you next week at Serafall one-sama's birthday party," Sona said hopefully.

"No, Sona, you won't be seeing me then. To be honest, you won't see me for a while. I will probably travel the world, learn, and train to make sure my dreams come true," Marid said as he turned around and gave her a small smile before teleporting away in his own magic circle.

"Well, we can have a girl's night out then," Rias said softly, trying to lighten her mood. No matter how ignorant these two acted, everyone knew they liked each other, more than some would say, friends. But were they something more than friends, that was something only time would tell.

"Yea, we can look at some new Manga as well. I have heard of this new robot manga that has come out based in Japan," Seekvaira; knowing it was lost cause to hide her inner emotions, she gleefully started to tell Rias about the new manga set since she knew the girl loved Japan and its culture.

"Alright, come to my house! I will show you the entire collection. Daddy got me the entire collection," Seekvaira gleefully said before teleporting to the Agares manor.

"You go ahead, Rias. I have some work to be done," Sona said quietly before turning to move away from the group.

"Oh, come on, Sona, you can do your precious work later on," Rias said excitedly before grabbing Sona and teleporting away.

"Hey, what about me?!?" Dogan said as he followed their magical circle.

Chapter END

I hope you liked this chapter. Rias has just been crowned the Gremory Heir. Moreover, Rias, Sairaorg and Marid a now newly appointed kings of their own peerage. Being the first of the Big eight to get their own peerage. And a little teaser to the main kinship of this story.

SO to get somethings our of the way, I know I did quote Mike Tyson when Serafall was explaining Sona and Seekvaira about the hidden psychology of going in the battle. I am a big Tyson fan, allow me alright!

Also, in this story all the youth devil are actually very close and are good friends. Apart from Diodora (who usually sticks to himself and comes of shy) and Rias who acts a little too self entitled for the groups liking. And well Zephyrdor, well he is Zephyrdor

Along with this, next chapter, a big time skip is coming. It wont be too big but it will connect this prologue to the actual storyline/canon starting point.

Words:- 8396

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