All of the females of the Gremory group are scary, though. Did you notice what Venelana's nickname was when she was Rias's age? Just take Rias's nickname and change "Crimson" to "Brown" and you have it. So scary.
Normally, you wouldn't think that you can understand what being a mascot is just by training in the mountains. The training Ise, Sairaorg and Kiba did on the mountains was training meant to get stronger. It allowed Ise to get to a level where he was able to obtain Balance Breaker, although a certain other thing still had to be done (Mr. Oppai Dragon Ise
).
I agree about Lilitifa. I'll say this again: her entering Ise's harem would truly be great. Even if she doesn't join his peerage (since it's too situational - after all, she can only show her true power in battlefields where there are large bodies of water). Well, if there's a way for her to get actual human legs, then it's possible for her to join Ise's peerage. But aside from that it probably can't be done.
As for it being there for a while. Yeah, I was also wondering why I hadn't read it before. I don't get it either.