Gremory SI - Chapter 2 (Patreon)

As per Poll - Moving to Later Stages 

Oh! Also, this is an AU, in case anyone was confused about that.

Disclaimer -  I don’t own Anything.

Gremory Territory, Underworld.

—Shin Gremory--

“Shin! Hey, I am talking to you!” He sighed, feeling as if he had been exhausted all his life, before turning around with a clearly fake smile on his face, looking at the red haired teenager looking at him with disdain practically written on his face. It was one of the red haired ones, one of the True Gremories, Special Devils who were born with the significant trait that somehow marked that Devil as the one who inherited the True Gremory blood, all because the Gremory Ancestor, Runeas Gremory, had Red Hair and all her kids who had the Red Hair were the ones who inherited her massive Demonic Energy reserves and the impeccable control over those reserves as well.

Ofcourse, that was what was taught to everyone in House Gremory, to make sure everyone remembered their places in the overall hierarchy of House Gremory. It would be too bad if someone realised that everyone here were Devils all the same, with Gremory blood running through them. That alone gave everyone here a massive leg up when it came to potential; red hair or not, everyone could become great.

Everyone deserved the best education, best treatment, and dignity as long as they were not traitors to the House, he raged in the privacy of his mind, but of course, he was not delusional enough to say that out loud. As he said previously, there was a clear hierarchy inside House Gremory, and breaking it by, say, shouting and provoking a True Gremory into taking action would result in absolutely nothing.

“Yes, Jarnan?” He greeted the Gremory, who was well over in his 30s now, but looked almost the same age as him, who was only 11 years old. It was a combination of Jarnan wanting to look young and attractive and him wanting to get old soon, which made their respective Devil physique work overtime to fulfill those subconscious desires. 

It definitely didn’t bother him that he looked as if he was a young adult when he should still be a kid, studying with all the other kids his age. It definitely bothered the others, especially when he showcased skills people thrice his age shouldn’t have. It definitely didn’t help that owing to all the perks he got from the ROB, he learned things far too fast, did not stay down for long, and was ready for anything that the Gremory could throw at him.

Jarnan was one of the ones who was unnerved by his existence, as he was a walking paradox according to their precious True Gremory theory they loved to spout, but he was not one who resorted to physical violence poorly disguised as spars, so he just tolerated his existence.

“Why aren’t you with the other kids?”

He sighed again, dismissing the smile on his face, looking at Jarnan. “Why does it matter? I have passed all the tests. I don’t need to be there.”

“...No, but you should be with kids your age. Walking around like this can’t be safe, considering your…” Jarnan trailed off as he raised his eyebrows, practically daring the man to finish his words.

The Gremory House he saw here was a far cry from the happy go lucky Gremory House from Canon, where everyone was family, and everyone was loved and cared for, without a single ounce of negative emotions that the rest of the Underworld was practically famous for. This Gremory House, before the Civil War that decimated its population to the point that only a single couple remained, was quite orthodox and maintained a strict hierarchy.

Thankfully, they were still outliers from the rest of the Underworld when it came to treating their vassal states and their kids, as well as the other kids with the impure blood, and didn't resort to too much physical violence, but there was a clear difference in treatment, and for kids, even Devil kids, that was devastating.

Thankfully, he was not one. He was also the son of a Pure Gremory, which is why when he was born, the entire Delivery room was full of Red Haired Gremory who looked at him oddly when he popped out of his momma. After all, a Pure Gremory had just given birth to an impure Gremory, and while that in and of itself was not a sin, it also excused his mother from all the duties expected of a mother.

Which also explained the Unknown Red Haired Gremory who took care of him when he woke up from his first sleep, and why he was promptly put on some formula without ever seeing his mother ever again. Hell, he didn't even know who his mother was, and frankly, he would be fine not knowing or seeing her for the rest of his long life, but that connection added an extra bit of safety layer over his head, something that made the older kids, both Pure and Impure, from picking on him too much.

Well, that was in the early days. Nowadays, no one tried to pick on him, as just yesterday, he had beaten a Pure Gremory into the ground, who had just turned into a High Class Devil. He had thrown the fight a lot, got himself bloodied, and made it look like he had barely won, but the important part was that he had won, and that was more than enough for everyone to leave him alone.

After all, he was the Freak, and he wore that badge with pride.

Jarnan looked mighty awkward with the way the conversation was proceeding, and while he would never be friends with him, he appreciated the man’s concern, even if it was wholly unnecessary, so he gave him an out, “I am fine, thank you. I just don’t belong with them. Nothing to learn, you see.”

Jarnan nodded with a thoughtful look on his face before just turning around and leaving the same way he came. That was odd, but nothing harmful, so he just let it be.

Meanwhile, he did the only thing he did these days aside from training his ass off, looking at the massive forests that were part of the Gremory Territory. They were beautiful and lush with trees that were probably more than capable of swallowing a Devil alive and not even burp later on. Still, the forest was beautiful to look at, and while there was no Sun in the sky, as that was a later addition done by the New Satans who were not even in their first century right now, the purple backdrop with the almost shining forest was a hauntingly beautiful sight.

The most beautiful he had in his life right now.

That was the place where he trained, where he ate, and where he slept most of the days as well. It was home to very aggressive flora and fauna, both of which were helpful for his training. It was a combination of his High Potential and his Phenex Regeneration that allowed him to even survive some of the stuff in that forest.

Of course, he had outgrown everything inside there, and technically, he could have left House Gremory and joined some other organisation or army, but he knew what fate awaited him there. 

Technically, he could leave anytime he wanted and join anyone without any fear of retaliation from House Gremory just because he had the audacity to leave, as that was a new rule instated by the Heir of House Gremory, Sirzechs Gremory, but that also meant that the protection of House Gremory over his head would vanish. 

There was a reason why he still came back here every week, made sure he stayed in this exact same position for hours on end, talked to anyone who talked to him, and all around made sure that he was still part of House Gremory and hadn’t deserted. 

As was his assumption when he went past the first thought that came to his mind when he thought of DXD, this was a death world through and through. Right now, the Underworld, especially for decently powerful Devils without the protection of a Pillar House, was a dog eat dog world.

The Satan Houses, as well as the Six Houses of Lucifer, were always on the prowl to scoop up every single able bodied Devil who even hinted at potential. The Six Houses of Lucifer, while more powerful than every other House, were totally subservient to the Satan Houses, which is why they had the most prestige, the most resources, and the most authority after the Satan Houses, and why they were tasked with amassing the army and the weapons required to fight the next Great War.

Thankfully, they were still in the preparatory stage, but apparently, that had been the case for over a decade now, so he had no idea just how long he had until something snapped and resulted in the deaths of all the Satan Descendants, the destruction of the Six Houses of Lucifer, and the installation of the Four New Satans as the new ruling authority.

It was inevitable, of that he was certain. Because he had stood in front of Sirzechs Gremory and man, was that guy an absolute monster. He was apparently just in his 50s and already capable of eviscerating the Clan Head with a look, an ability that the current House Head certainly wanted.

Ironically, if the House Head had the ability, he would have had Sirzechs killed at the first notice, simply because his son was the previous Heir and Sirzechs had taken the seat, simply based on his strength, and probably also because of some backdoor interference from Zekram Bael.

Right now, Zekram Bael was far from being the head of the Great King faction, and did not command the political capital he soon would in the future, but he was still a schemer and decently powerful, which is probably how Sirzechs became the heir without any issue whatsoever.

Anyway, the bottom line was that he could not leave House Gremory, not while he could benefit massively from the protection of not just the Gremory name but also from the abnormal existence that was Sirzechs Gremory.

Unfortunately, the guy was a hardcore pacifist right now and spent most of his time inside Lucifaad, teaching a choir group, otherwise, he would have loved to spend some more time with the future Satan and get some tips if he could spare some.

That, on top of his habit of spending most of his time training, meant that he could only see Sirzechs whenever a House meeting was called for an important meeting, when every single member of the House, from the servants to the House Head, had to be present. All the ones he attended so far could have been an email, in terms of lingo from his past life, but since no such thing existed here, as Ajuka hadn’t come up with his technological revolution here, in person meetings were common.

And just like in his past life, they were done by the higher ups to maintain a sense of control over their employees and to feel superiority over the rest of the members of the House.

If he was not wrong, the reason Sirzechs entered the Civil War was because the choir group was attacked by the other side, which made him glad that he did not accept the offer when every Impure Gremory inside the House was encouraged to take part in the Heir’s newest initiative.

He was pretty sure that Zephyr Gremory, the current Head of the House, was all but giddy at the news of the strong heir pretty much wasting his time, so he probably encouraged Sirzechs to pursue his hobby and even got some of the wastes of space, according to the House Head anyway, to follow the heir as well.

He was pretty sure that had it not been for Sirzechs, his life would have been pretty hard under the rule of Zephyr Gremory. The guy was a certified A-hole but at least had the strength to back it up. Likely because they were still being ruled by guys who were raised by people who were Lucifer’s war machines, strength was valued above all, so the guy fulfilled the requirement to become the Head of the House, as did Sirzechs, which was just to be the strongest guy around.

He was pretty sure he could take on everyone inside the House save for Sirzechs, since that was basically impossible with his age, and Zephyr, but House Gremory was not the entire Underworld now, was it?

This version of the Underworld was far more dangerous to decently strong people like himself, and he would much rather stay under the radar for as long as possible and, when shit hits the fan, attach himself to Sirzechs’ hips because going out and trying to make it on his own was going to be very hard.

Hopefully, it was decades before he had to worry about the Civil War, at which point he would be strong enough to have a say in the Civil War itself. 

Shaking his head at the future thoughts and the way they were taking over most of his thoughts lately, he crouched before jumping straight towards the forest.

The Grind Awaits!