Morning in the Underworld was a surreal experience for those unaccustomed to the realm of devils. The sky remained its signature shade of muted, bruised violet, yet an artificial sun, shimmering calmness settled over the Gremory territory, mimicking the stillness of sunrise. For Ayaka and Aoi Takahashi, however, there was nothing peaceful about the quietude.
Breakfast at the Gremory estate had been an exercise in polite, high-society suffocation. The table was a sprawling landscape of silver, the food objectively perfect, and the elegance of the Great Duke's household beyond anything they had ever imagined. The girls had spent the entire meal under the watchful, curious eyes of the Gremory family, feeling like exotic specimens in a gilded cage.
Now, they stood in the vast, emerald-green backyard training grounds. The air was cool and thick with the scent of mown grass. Sirzechs Lucifer stood before them, flanked by his silver-haired Queen, Grayfia.
"Are you the one who is going to train us, big brother?" Rias asked, her voice steady but her curiosity piqued, she hadn't actually been told who would train her and her peerage.
Sirzechs smiled softly, affection in his eyes, but he shook his head. "No, Rias. I have pressing matters in the capital that require my immediate attention. Your teacher should have been here yesterday, but it seems he was delayed by his own... eccentricities."
As if the universe were waiting for the cue, a magic circle flared to life just a few paces away.
"Ah," Sirzechs noted, "right on time."
A man emerged from the fading light. He had a mess of blonde and black hair, a light dusting of stubble, and a relaxed, almost lazy posture that belied the razor-sharp intensity in his eyes. He wore a simple green kimono, looking more like a vacationing scholar than a leader of a faction.
"Yo," he greeted with a casual wave.
"Azazel," Rias muttered, her expression shifting from curiosity to mild irritation.
The moment the name left her lips, Ayaka and Aoi froze. Their bodies stiffened instinctively. With the way their father had spoken of this name one time during dinner, Ayaka and Aoi knew that this man was someone their father hated very much, and it was because of something that involved their mother, though they didn't know what had happened.
Kenji had never been subtle about his hatred for the Governor General of the Fallen Angels. Ayaka vividly remembered asking why her father cursed that name during his rants.
Her father had simply answered, "He's a creep. If you see him, stay as far away as possible. If he touches you, you don't talk, you run, and you scream for me."
That didn't really fill their heads with a positive image of the fallen angel.
Aoi recalled her father even telling Ren, who was ten years old, that Azazel was a "kill-on-sight" target if the boy ever saw him. A ten year old, for god sake, it only meant that her father hated the man that he didn't even care if Ren picked up on that hate too.
Azazel, meanwhile, was busy greeting Sirzechs, seemingly oblivious to the two girls trying to merge with the landscape to hide from his sight. Rias marched up to her brother, her annoyance clear. She had already been disgruntled when Azazel became their club advisor at Kuoh, but bringing him here felt like a bridge too far.
Akeno Himejima stood nearby, her expression unreadable but her aura cold. As a half-fallen who hated fallens and the daughter of Baraqiel, her relationship with the Governor General was complicated. She noticed the way the Takahashi sisters huddled together, shifting their weight until they were partially shielded behind her.
"Do you know him?" Akeno whispered, her voice barely a breath.
Ayaka shook her head slightly, her fists clenched at her sides. "Not personally. But Dad made it very clear... he's a bad guy. He told us to stay away at all costs."
Akeno nodded solemnly. "A wise man, your father. I would suggest the same to anyone."
Azazel's gaze finally drifted toward them, his eyes lighting up with genuine, mischievous amusement. "Well, now, I didn't know we had extra guests joining the party. Quite the collection we have today."
He began to stroll toward the girls, his hands tucked into his sleeves. Akeno immediately stepped into his path, her eyes narrowing into a sharp, violet glare.
"Oh, now, no need to be so hostile, Akeno. I haven't even done anything yet," he chuckled, stopping just outside her reach. His gaze shifted past her, landing on the sisters. "You must be Ayaka and Aoi. I've heard quite a bit about your father's... unique talents. I'm actually a friend of his, you know. We're practically best buds."
Ayaka snorted, a sharp, ugly sound. "Yeah, right. And I'm Megan Fox."
Azazel blinked, momentarily stunned by the bluntness.
"Our dad barely has friends," Ayaka continued, crossing her arms defiantly. "And he definitely doesn't describe 'friends' with instructions on how to properly dispose of their remains. If you're his friend, I'm the Queen of England."
Rude thing to say about her father, but it was the truth, her father didn't have friends. When was the last time he went out to hang out with friends? Months ago, she thought, yeah, before the accident, after that, no more friends really.
"I'll have you know we were in Kyoto together just yesterday," Azazel said, his grin widening. "We shared a very... enlightening experience involving a kitsune. Best of buds, I tell you."
Aoi knew her father had been in Kyoto, but she didn't even for a second believe the "friendship" part. "With the way Dad describes how much he wants to kill you, I'd suggest finding a new Friend. Or a good life insurance policy, do fallen angels have that" she added quietly.
A few of the people nearby choked on their breath. Sirzechs stepped in.
"Azazel," Sirzechs' voice was like rolling thunder. "They are guests of the House of Gremory. I expect you to treat them with the respect that title demands."
Sirzechs knew that Kenji's hatred for the Fallen was no bluff. He had felt the spikes of bloodlust Kenji had directed at Azazel during the faction meetings. If the Governor General pushed too hard here, the resulting fallout would not have been a funny thing.
Azazel let out a dramatic, long-suffering sigh. "I get it, I get it. No fun allowed. I was just teasing anyway. Fine. Let's get down to business. I've got a twenty-day regime that's going to whip you lot into shape. Twenty human-world days of absolute hell."
"Twenty days?!" Issei groaned, slumping his shoulders. "Do we really have to—"
"Yes, Issei. And because you're so enthusiastic, you get to go first," Azazel said cheerfully.
A massive shadow suddenly blotted out the light. Aoi squeaked, grabbing Akeno's sleeve as the ground trembled under the weight of a gargantuan creature. It was the dragon they had faced before, Tannin.
"Hey! Who summoned the old guy from yesterday?!" Issei shouted, stumbling back as the Blaze Meteor Dragon landed with a loud thud.
"I did," Azazel replied. "He's your personal trainer for the next three weeks. Tannin, he's all yours."
The dragon let out a low, rumbling huff of smoke. "This will be my first time training a wielder of Ddraig. I hope you're sturdier than you look, boy."
"Your goal," Azazel added, "is to learn to trigger your Balance Breaker at will without relying on outside assistance, " and if you don't die in the process? Well, that's just a bonus."
"Why is not dying always a perk with you people?!" Issei yelled as Tannin reached down, snagging the boy's collar with a massive claw.
"Issei!" Rias called out, her hands on her hips. "Get it together!"
Issei's face fell, but he managed a shaky smile. "Right, I forgot. Our King becomes a full-blown dominatrix when it comes to training. If only she were the one holding the whip and not this guy!" He barely finished the sentence before Tannin took to the skies, Issei's screams echoing into the distance. "THIS SUCKSSSSS!"
Azazel turned back to the remaining group, his tone shifting to business. "Rias, for you, we focus on leadership. You have the raw power, but a King needs to know how to properly unleash the full potential of her pieces. Brains and brawn in equal measure. Kiba, your Balance Breaker is new and fickle; we're going to master it until you can use it as naturally as breathing. Xenovia, you need to tame that sacred blade of yours, Durandal, so use this time to try and truly make it yours. Gasper, you have a lot of power, but you tend to natural stops that from coming out, so we'll have to work on that."
"nnnoooooo," the girly boy moaned out.
"Koneko, if you wish to release the power you have from within, then stop playing cat and mouse with your identity," he told the white haired girl.
"Balls," Koneko muttered in a perfect monotone, her expression blank.
Azazel then looked at Asia. "Twilight Healing is dependent on the user's ability. If you're good enough, you can release the aura from your whole body and heal all your friends even when they're far away."
She nodded her head, "I'll do my best," the timid girl said.
Finally, his eyes landed on the Takahashi sisters. "And what about you two? Are you going to join the party, or are you just here for the scenery? I can help you out, too, you know. I've got plenty of experience with... training mages."
Ayaka's fists clenched. Part of her burned to train, to get stronger so she'd never feel as helpless as she did against that dragon, but her father's warnings were like a physical weight.
"Thanks, but no thanks," Aoi said firmly, stepping in front of her sister. "We'll be fine on our own. We were going to go check out the Gremory library anyway. You guys have fun... not dying."
She grabbed Ayaka's hand and began pulling her toward the mansion. "Don't do anything stupid," Aoi whispered. Ayaka has always been reckless, so Aoi knew if she left her there, she would do something stupid.
The Underworld – Gremory Territory
Meanwhile, Kenji Takahashi was walking through the streets of a nearby devil city.
He knew he should be sprinting. He knew every second he spent looking at Shops and Libraries was a second his daughters were in potential danger. But he was fascinated. The Underworld was beautiful in a dark, twisted way, and he saw things that simply didn't exist in the human realm.
He found shops selling magic items and books he didn't recognize and was sure were not on Earth. He told himself he was gathering intelligence, but in reality, he was allowing his temper to cool.
He didn't want to arrive at the Gremory estate like a marauding warlord, he wanted to arrive as a father, calm enough to scold them, saying things he'd regret later.
Besides, he could sense them through his spatial awareness, they were safe and surrounded by the familiar, annoying auras of the Gremory peerage. So, he took his time. He bought a few curiosities and books on the culture of the devils.
By the third day, he had cooled down and was ready to meet his girls, and he'd also finished his sightseeing. Roman had guided him through the local geography before Kenji sent the devil back.
He didn't use the front gates. Instead, he cloaked his mana, blurred his physical form, and took to the sky.
The barrier surrounding the estate was impressive, but for Kenji, it was like stepping through a soap bubble. He slipped through without so much as a ripple.
He landed in the shadows of the training grounds, prepared to give his daughters a stern lecture on responsibility, where he knew they were from what he sensed. He stepped out from behind a line of trees.
Then, he saw it.
Ayaka was on the ground, her face twisted in pain. There was blood on her shoulder, staining her shirt a dark, sickening crimson. Aoi was kneeling beside her, her hands trembling as she tried to help.
And kneeling right over his injured daughter, his hand reaching out toward her wounded shoulder, was Azazel.
In that split second, the world turned red.
The calm father disappeared, replaced by primal fury. The air around the training grounds became heavy, as if the gravity of a thousand suns had suddenly centered on one man.
The sky overhead dark, swirled into a violent storm. The ground beneath Kenji's feet shattered into fine dust. His golden eyes burned with a light that seemed to eat the surrounding shadows.
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