Disclaimer: I do not have any rights of ownership for the characters used except the OC's. All the credit goes to the authors. Only the plot belongs to me.
Chapter 9
~ Rias Gremory ~
The old clock on the wall of the Occult Research Club ticked with a rhythm that felt like a countdown.
Rias Gremory sat behind her grand mahogany desk, her fingers laced together so tightly that the knuckles had turned the colour of bleached bone. The room was bathed in the warm, amber glow of the setting sun, filtering through the windows of the old school building, but the atmosphere inside was anything but warm.
It was frigid with tension.
Gathered before her were her servants, her family. Akeno Himejima stood to her right, her usual serene smile replaced by a look of sombre vigilance. Kiba Yuuto and Koneko Toujou were seated on the sofas, their postures stiff, sensing the distress radiating from their King. Issei Hyoudou and Asia Argento, her newest pieces, looked between them with confusion and anxiety, sensing the gravity of the situation without fully understanding the politics behind it.
Standing in the corner, shrouded in the shadows, was Grayfia, her brother's wife, queen and the head maid of the Gremory. She had returned with Rias this morning, because of the guest who was set to arrive and if there were any problems, she was told to handle it with diplomacy. Right now, she was watching Rias muster the courage to tell her peerage about the upcoming disaster.
"Thank you all for coming," Rias began, her voice steady but lacking its usual imperious fire. She looked at each of them, trying to memorize their faces in this moment of relative peace. "There is... a matter regarding the Gremory household that I can no longer keep from you. It concerns my future, and by extension, yours."
She took a breath, the air tasting stale in her lungs.
"My father and the Council have decided that it is time for me to fulfil my obligations," she continued, the words tasting like ash. "The engagement to the House of Phenex is to be finalized. I have tried to delay it, to fight it with silence and distance, but time has run out."
"Engagement?" Issei blurted out, standing up. "Buchou, you're getting married? To who?"
Before Rias could answer, the air in the room suddenly spiked in temperature. A sensation of oppressive heat, like opening the door to a blast furnace, washed over them.
"That would be me, low-born," a voice sneered from the centre of the room.
A circle of fire erupted on the Persian rug. It wasn't the crimson of destruction that Rias wielded, but the bright orange of the hellfire. From the flames rose a figure that oozed arrogance from every pore.
Riser Phenex.
He stepped out of the fire as if it were a mild breeze, dusting off his fancy noble jacket. He was handsome in a sharp, predatory way, with blond hair and eyes that looked at the world as if everything in it had a price tag he could easily afford.
"My dear Rias," Riser spread his arms wide, ignoring the glares from the ORC members. "It has been too long. You've been ignoring my calls. Hard to get is a cute look, but it becomes tiresome after a few years."
"Riser," Rias said, remaining seated, though every muscle in her body was coiled to strike. "You are not welcome here."
"Riser is always welcome where his fiancée is," Riser laughed, a grating sound that reeked with his sense of entitlement.
"Riser has come to take you home, Rias," Riser declared, stepping closer to the desk. "The game is up. Stop playing schoolgirl with your little pets and accept your duty. A pureblood Gremory needs a pureblood Phenex. The council agrees. Your father agrees. The only one dragging their feet is you."
Issei stepped forward, his Boosted Gear manifesting on his arm. "Hey! She said she doesn't want to go with you, pal!"
Riser looked at Issei as one might look at a cockroach. "A new piece? A pawn, Riser guesses. How quaint. Rias, your taste in servants has truly declined. Pawns are meant to be sacrificed, not heard."
"Don't speak to my servants that way," Rias stood up, her crimson aura flaring, shaking the room. "And I will never marry you, Riser. I will not be a broodmare for you."
The argument that followed was a dance Issei had never seen before. It was a clash of nobility, of ancient laws. Riser was arrogant, yes, but he had the weight of tradition behind him. He dismissed Issei as a weak pawn, mocked Kiba's knighthood, and leered at Akeno.
"I will not marry you," Rias declared, her voice trembling with suppressed rage. "I am the heir to the Gremory Clan. I choose my own path."
Riser sighed, a theatrical sound of boredom. "You naïve women always talk of choice. Power is the only choice, Rias. And you lack it. You are mine." He took a step forward, his aura flaring, the heat intensifying.
Grayfia stepped between them, the temperature in the room dropping fifty degrees, instantly neutralizing Riser's heat. "Lord Riser. Lady Rias. Please contain yourselves. If you cannot agree, there is a protocol for this."
She turned towards the Gremory peerage. "Your brother, Lord Sirzechs anticipated such an outcome and has decided to give you both a way out. A Rating Game."
"A Rating Game," Riser said, grinning like a shark. "Riser loves a game. It allows Riser to show his dominance. If Riser wins, Rias marries him immediately. If she wins… well, Riser is generous. Riser will dissolve the engagement."
He took a look around the room and smirked at the Heiress of House Gremory, "Tell me Rias, is that your entire peerage?"
Riser snapped his fingers again. Behind him, a massive magic circle appeared, burning with the Phenex crest. From the flames, fifteen women emerged. His peerage. His harem. They were strong, disciplined, and numerous.
He gestured to the fifteen women behind him. "I have a full set, Rias. Experienced. Loyal. Lethal. And you? You don't even have half. Riser almost feels bad. You are outnumbered and outclassed. Is this really all you have? Where is the pride of the Gremory?"
Rias's expression shifted. The anger evaporated, replaced by a cold, sharp smirk that Riser hadn't seen before.
"You think this is all I have?" she whispered.
She raised her hand.
"I have not introduced you to my Rook and my newest pieces," Rias said softly.
Thump.
A single footstep shook the floorboards. The vibration travelled up Riser's legs, rattling his teeth.
Thump.
The heavy doors groaned as they were pushed open. They didn't swing; they were forced apart by a wall of physical mass.
From the darkness of the other side, Taurus emerged.
The atmosphere in the room didn't just shift; it broke. The heat of Riser's fire was instantly smothered by a crushing, gravitational weight. It was the smell of wet earth, iron, and ancient, unbridled violence.
Taurus had to duck to enter the room. He was a mountain of muscle, bronze skin stretched tight over a frame that seemed designed for war. His horns curved wickedly from his head, and his golden eyes burned with a silent, terrifying intelligence. He wore nothing but loose training pants, exposing the roadmap of scars and veins that traversed his torso.
Flanking him, stepping out of the darkness with predatory grace, were three women. Clad in their usual outfits, their energy, corrupted yet holy, radiated outward towards the occupants of the room, filling the entirety of the ORC and revealing their true nature to everyone present.
To his right, Raynare stood clad in her dominatrix outfit, her violet eyes gleaming with malice and devotion. To his left, Kalawarner, tall and statuesque, her arms folded beneath her huge bust. And peering around his massive waist, the chaotic lolita Mittelt.
The Fallen Angel Trio. The enemies who had once plagued Issei, now serving in the name of House Gremory, their loyalty clearly anchored to the massive Rook they walked beside.
They walked past the stunned peerage of the Phenex, and the devil who had brought them along.
Taurus stopped beside Rias's desk. He towered over everyone. He looked at Riser's peerage—fifteen women who had been smirking a moment ago. Now, they were pale. They were instinctively stepping back. Their instincts as devils were screaming that a predator had entered the pen.
The silence in the room was absolute.
Riser's smirk vanished. His Queen, Yubelluna, took a step back, her eyes widening. A Fallen Angel in a Devil's peerage was rare. Three was unheard of. And the sheer physical pressure radiating from Taurus was making the flames of the Phenex flicker and die.
"What is this?" Riser hissed, his composure cracking. "Fallen Angels? Have you lost your mind, Rias?"
"I have gained power," Rias corrected, walking around her desk to stand beside Taurus. She placed a hand on his massive bicep. The Fallen trio bristled slightly at the touch but remained submissive. "This is my Rook, Taurus. And these are his… conquests. My new pawns. They serve him, and he serves me."
Taurus looked at Riser. He didn't speak. He simply exhaled, a sound like a bull snorting before a charge. He cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing like gunshots in the quiet room. Behind him, Raynare licked her lips, spinning a light-spear between her fingers, looking at Riser's peerage like they were her prey.
The energy in the room had shifted violently. It was no longer a noble bullying a young heiress. It was a standoff between a flock of burning birds and a wall of unbreakable iron.
"I accept your Rating Game, Riser," Rias said, her voice ringing with newfound steel. "Ten days. And when we meet… try not to burn out too quickly."
Riser stared at Taurus, then at the Fallen. For the first time, fear flickered in his eyes. He masked it with a sneer, spinning on his heel.
He laughed, but it was high-pitched and nervous. "Right! Yes! The game! We shall see if your... pet... can handle a real battle! Ten days, Rias! Prepare yourself!"
He snapped his fingers, and he and his peerage vanished in a swirl of fire, retreating far faster than they had arrived.
As the flames died down, the ORC room was left in silence.
"Well," Rias grumbled, her voice now much lighter, relief setting in her bones. She looked back at her peerage. "We have work to do."
~ Rias Gremory ~
The teleportation circle deposited the Gremory group into a world of vibrant green and biting cold. They stood on a plateau high in an uninhabited mountain range, far from the prying eyes of the human world. The air was thin and crisp, smelling of pine needles and snow.
Before them stood a large, rustic cottage, essentially a mansion made of marble and stone, designed to blend into the wilderness. It was a Gremory property, maintained by magic, meant for retreats and secret training.
"We have ten days," Rias announced, turning to her peerage. She had tied her crimson hair back in a ponytail, dressed in a functional tracksuit. "Ten days to bridge the gap between us and a team that has won multiple professional Rating Games. We cannot just be stronger; we must be better."
She began to issue orders with the precision of a general.
"Akeno, Kiba, Koneko," she gestured to the trio. "You will take Issei. He has the power, but he needs to unlock it and lacks the technique. Break him down and build him back up. I want him to be able to use the Boosted Gear without thinking. Do not slack off on your own training either."
"Understood, Buchou," Kiba nodded, his hand resting on his sword hilt.
"Raynare, Kalawarner, Mittlet," Rias turned her gaze to the trio of Fallen Angels. "You are powerful, and you can fight as a team. I need the three of you to work on increasing your magical output, endurance and durability. Your holy power, while dimmed, will still be lethal to the devils in Riser's peerage. I need the three of you to work on utilising that efficiently "
Raynare nodded, looking serious. "As you command, King."
"As for me..." Rias took a deep breath. "I have my own weakness to overcome. My reliance on pure destruction makes me predictable."
"And who will train you, Rias?" Akeno asked, tilting her head. "There are few who can instruct a Gremory in the Power of Destruction."
"I will," a melodic voice echoed from the porch of the cottage.
Everyone turned. Standing there, holding a porcelain teacup, was a woman who looked like an older, more voluptuous version of Rias. Her hair was a deeper flaxen colour, her eyes a piercing violet. She wore a sun dress that was elegant yet simple, but the aura rolling off her was anything but simple. It was the crushing weight of the Bael clan, the origin of the Power of Destruction.
"Mother?" Rias gasped.
Venelana Gremory smiled, setting the cup down. "Hello, Rias. Sirzechs and your father were... concerned. They cannot interfere directly, but a mother visiting her daughter for a 'vacation' is hardly against the rules. I will be instructing you on the true nature of our power. Prepare yourself, dear. I will not be gentle."
The realization that the matriarch of the Gremory household—known in her youth as one of strongest devils of her generation, someone who had been in wars—was here to train them sent a ripple of shock through the group.
"And finally," Rias turned to Taurus. The massive Minotaur was standing perfectly still, like a statue carved from the mountain itself. "Taurus."
"King," he acknowledged.
"You are our shield and our hammer," Rias said. "But Riser has a regenerative factor that makes blunt force difficult to stick. You need to learn to hit harder than his immortality can handle. You need to learn from someone who has broken the unbreakable."
"Who?" Taurus asked.
"Me! Hahahaha!"
A booming laugh rolled down from the roof of the cottage. A figure leaped down, landing with a heavy thud that cracked the stone patio, yet he absorbed the impact with the grace of a cat.
He was huge. Not quite as broad as Taurus, but taller, standing over two meters. He had wild, spiked orange hair that looked like a flame frozen in time. He wore a thick, fur-lined coat open at the chest, revealing a torso of granite muscle. In one hand, he clutched a massive 1.8-liter bottle of sake.
"Surtr the Second," Kiba whispered, his eyes widening. "The Rook of Sirzechs Lucifer."
Surtr grinned, his face flushed with alcohol and excitement. He walked up to Taurus, sizing him up. The two giants stood nose to nose, the air between them crackling with static electricity.
"So this is the little calf I've heard so much about," Surtr boomed, slapping Taurus on the shoulder with a force that would have shattered a normal human's skeleton. Taurus didn't budge. "Good frame! Thick neck! I like it!"
"Surtr," Taurus nodded, his golden eyes narrowing. "The Replica."
Surtr's grin twitched, a vein popping in his forehead. "Hey now! I'm the second coming of the Fire Giant! Don't make it sound cheap! I get embarrassed, you know? And when I get embarrassed, I get angry!"
He took a swig of sake, wiping his mouth with a hand the size of a shovel.
"Listen up, kid," Surtr said, his voice dropping the jovial tone for a moment. "Lord Sirzechs sent me. He says you're strong. Maybe the strongest raw strength in the Underworld's rookie class, right next to Sairaorg. But you're slow. Riser will dance around you and peck your eyes out with his fire and healing factor."
Surtr leaned in, his breath smelling of rice wine and magma.
"I'm going to teach you how to be a disaster," Surtr whispered. "I'm going to teach you how to hit the air so hard it breaks. I'm going to make you the second strongest Rook in existence. But let me tell you... you should prepare for hell. My training isn't safe. I might accidentally kill you. Actually, I probably will."
Taurus stared into the wild, orange eyes of the Lucifer's Rook. He felt a stirring in his gut—not fear, but anticipation.
"Bring it on," Taurus growled.
Surtr laughed, a maniacal sound that echoed off the mountains. "That's the spirit! First lesson: Catch me if you can!"
Surtr vanished. He didn't teleport; he simply moved so fast that the ground exploded where he had been standing, launching him toward the highest peak of the mountain range.
Taurus didn't hesitate. He roared, his muscles swelling, and launched himself after the orange blur, leaving a crater in his wake.
~ Taurus ~
The moon hung high and full over the mountain range, casting a pale, silver light over the steam rising from the natural hot springs located behind the cottage. The air was bitterly cold, freezing the moisture on the rocks, but the water was scalding hot, fed by the volcanic veins deep beneath the earth.
Taurus sat in the largest pool in their residence, the water reaching up to his chest.
He was a mess.
His body, usually an invulnerable fortress of bronze skin, was covered in rapidly healing welts and burns. His left eye was swollen shut. There was a deep bruise in the shape of a fist imprinted on his pectoral muscle. Surtr hadn't lied. The training was brutal. It wasn't about technique; it was about survival. Surtr attacked with the force of a natural disaster, forcing Taurus's armour like skin to adapt or be pulverized.
Taurus leaned his head back against the smooth rock edge of the pool, closing his good eye. The heat of the water seeped into his bones, soothing the ache. He breathed deeply, the cold night air filling his lungs.
He thought of Rias. He thought of the fear he had smelled on her yesterday. He clenched his fists under the water, creating a ripple that slammed against the far side of the pool. He would crush Riser. He would tear the wings off that bird and feed them to him.
"He hits hard, doesn't he?"
The voice was soft, elegant, and laced with a terrifying familiarity.
Taurus opened his eye.
Standing at the edge of the spring, illuminated by the moonlight, was Venelana Gremory.
She had shed her sun dress. She wore only a silk robe, loosely tied at the waist, which fluttered in the mountain breeze. Her hair was down, cascading over her shoulders like a river of spun gold and flax.
"Surtr hits hard," Taurus replied, his voice rough. He didn't make a move to cover himself. He knew she had seen everything before. "But I'm still breathing."
"My poor boy," she sighed, stepping out of her slippers. Her bare feet touched the cold stone. "Surtr is a brute. Effective, but lacking in artistry."
She undid the sash of her robe. The silk pooled around her feet, revealing her body.
She was perfection. Mature, curved, and powerful. Her skin was pale and flawless, glowing in the moonlight. Her breasts were full and heavy, her hips wide—the body of a matriarch, of a woman who had birthed a Satan and led her clan for centuries.
She stepped into the water. She didn't flinch at the heat. She waded toward him, the water swirling around her waist, then her chest.
Taurus watched her approach. Memories flooded his mind.
And he remembered her.
Years ago, he had been a stray. A half-breed abomination, rejected by humans and devils alike, starving in the gutters of the Underworld. Rias had found him, yes, but it was Venelana who had taken him in. She was the first to look at his horned, monstrous form not with fear or disgust, but with a terrifying, possessive appraisal. She had cleaned him, fed him, and whispered that he was not a beast, but someone who could be the strongest.
"Mother," Taurus acknowledged her, the title slipping out naturally. It wasn't biological, but it was true.
She reached him. She stood between his spread legs, her hands coming up to cup his battered face. Her thumbs traced the swelling around his eye.
"Does it hurt?" she whispered, her violet eyes searching his.
"Pain is weakness leaving the body. You taught me that," Taurus recited, his voice rough.
"I did," Venelana agreed. She lowered herself into the water, sitting on his lap. The sensation of her soft, wet skin against his battered body sent a jolt of electricity through him that had nothing to do with pain.
She wrapped her arms around his thick neck, pressing her breasts against his chest. She looked up at him, her face inches from his. The motherly affection in her eyes began to curdle into something hotter, something heavier.
"You have grown so big, Taurus," she whispered, her hand sliding down his chest, over his abs, drifting dangerously lower under the water. "So strong. When I found you, you were a frightened calf. Now… you are a Bull who challenges the heavens."
"I am what you made me," he said, his hands moving underwater to grip her wide hips. Her skin was soft, a stark contrast to his calloused palms.
Venelana shivered at his touch, a low hum vibrating in her throat. She looked up at him, her eyes darkening with a hunger that had nothing to do with food.
"I made you to protect my daughter," she murmured, her fingers trailing down his neck, over his massive shoulders, and down his chest. "But I also made you for myself. Did you forget?"
"Never," Taurus growled.
"It has been a long time since you visited the house," Venelana said, her voice taking on a sultry, admonishing tone. She pressed her body flush against his. He could feel the softness of her breasts against his hard chest, the heat of her core radiating through the water. "A son should not neglect his mother. It makes her... lonely. Do you wish for me to be lonely?"
She reached down, her hand sliding between his legs. She found him instantly—hard, thick, and ready. She had always had this effect on him. The mix of seductiveness, taboo, and primal lust was a cocktail he couldn't resist.
"You need to be healed," Venelana whispered, stroking him underwater, her grip firm and possessive. "Surtr breaks you down. I build you up. That is the cycle."
"Mother," Taurus groaned.
She didn't wait. She moved, lifting herself in the water. She was buoyant, weightless. She positioned herself over his lap, guiding his massive erection to her entrance.
She sank down.
"Ahhh..." Venelana threw her head back, her nails digging into his shoulders. She took him all the way, her body stretching to accommodate his size. It was a tight, perfect fit—familiar and intoxicating.
Taurus let out a guttural roar, his hands tightening on her hips, bruising the pale flesh. The sensation of being inside her, of claiming the woman who had made him, was electric. It was the ultimate taboo and the ultimate devotion.
"Oh!" Venelana gasped, her head thrown back, her nails digging into his shoulders. The sheer size of him stretched her, filled her completely, a sensation of fullness that she hadn't felt in months.
He kissed her. It wasn't gentle. It was a collision of lust and dominance. He devoured her mouth, his tongue sweeping inside, tasting her. She tasted of high-class wine and danger.
Venelana moaned into his mouth, her nails raking down his bruised back, not caring if she hurt him. She wanted the rough handling. She craved the brute force that her polite, political life denied her.
Taurus didn't give her time to adjust. He began to move. He wasn't gentle. He wasn't the tentative boy she had rescued. He was the Rook. He was power incarnate. He drove into her with long, punishing thrusts that made the water splash violently against the stones.
He surged up from the water, lifting her effortlessly. Venelana gasped as she was hoisted into the air, her legs wrapping instinctively around his waist. He walked them backward, slamming her back against the smooth rock wall of the spring.
"You like that, Mother?" Taurus growled, slapping her ass, the sound sharp and wet.
"I love it!" she cried out, wrapping her legs around his waist, locking him in. "Use me! Make me forget my name! Make me only yours!"
The steam swirled around them, witnessing the taboo union. Taurus pounded into her, his bruises forgotten, his body fuelled by pure, unadulterated lust. He watched her face—the face of one of the most powerful women in the Underworld—twisted in a rictus of pleasure, drool escaping the corner of her mouth, her eyes rolled back.
He felt the tightness of her, the way her Bael magic pulsed around his cock, trying to destroy him, but he was too durable, too strong. He broke through her defences, deep into her womb.
"I'm close!" Venelana shrieked, clutching his head, pulling his mouth to hers for a messy, devouring kiss. "Give it to me! Give me your seed!"
Taurus roared, his muscles locking up. He delivered one final, spine-shattering thrust, burying himself to the hilt, and erupted.
He poured into her, wave after wave of potent seed, flooding her. Venelana convulsed, her inner walls clamping down on him, milking him dry, her scream of release echoing off the valley walls, likely mistaken for a mountain spirit by anyone listening.
They stayed like that for a long time, the water settling around them. Venelana slumped against his chest, her breathing ragged, her body twitching with aftershocks.
Taurus stroked her hair, his heart rate slowly returning to normal.
Venelana lifted her head, her face flushed, her eyes hazy but filled with a terrifying pride. She kissed his jaw, then his neck.
She looked exhausted, dishevelled, and utterly satisfied. The "Mother" mask was back in place, but her eyes held the dark sparkle of a lover.
"Better?" she whispered, smoothing his wet hair.
Taurus nodded slowly, his breathing returning to normal. "Yes."
"Good," Venelana smiled, not climbing off him, staying close in the water. "Because tomorrow, I expect Rias to be exhausted after my training. You will need to be at your peak to protect her."
"Now... wash my back. And then... maybe we can go for round two. I believe Surtr taught you about endurance, didn't he?"
Taurus groaned, but he was already hardening again inside her.
"Whatever Mother wants," he rumbled.
"That's right," Venelana purred, tightening her legs around him. "Mother wants everything... and Taurus?"
"Yes?"
"Surtr says he will make you the second strongest Rook," Venelana's eyes flashed with the same shine as her Power of Destruction. "Prove him wrong. Be the first."
Author's Notes
Let me know how you guys like this one.