176 A New Reason

Human World, Japan, Kyoto.

In an abandoned warehouse at the same time James was enjoying a pleasant lunch with Yasaka and Kunou, five teenagers, four boys and a girl were sitting together discussing the failed attack on Yasaka.

"Things have gotten much more complicated." Said a young man with black hair and glasses wearing a gakuran and a mage robe over top of it. "James Alaverus is in Kyoto."

"So what?" Replied a 6'7" (approx. 2 m0 tall man with grey hair and wearing a similar gakuran covered by Greek inspired armor. "We'll just crush him like we do to everyone else."

The boy in glasses sighed exasperatedly after hearing his large companion.

"Take it easy, big guy." interjected a handsome, young man with silver-white hair and red eyes wearing a gakuran like everyone else in the room with a sword belt that held six swords around his waist. "He's a lot stronger than your average devil. I'd love to fight him, though. Rumor says he's quite the swordsman."

As he spoke his last sentence, the silver-white-haired young man wore a smile filled with expectation.

"Sieg-Kun is correct." The only girl, a beautiful, young woman with blond hair and sky-blue eyes, said in a cheerful tone. "You have to use your head more, Hera-Kun."

"I told you not to call me that!" The tall young man shouted angrily.

"Sorry, sorry." the young woman said with a smile. "I forgot, Hera-Kun. Oops I said it again, sorry, Hera-Kun."

"Argh!" The tall young man roared. "I'm gonna..."

"That's enough." the final person in the room, a young man with short black hair and blue eyes wearing a gakuran and ancient Chinese attire, said, putting an end to the pointless argument. "Georg is right. Things have become much more complicated."

"Then, what do you suggest we do, Cao Cao?" The young man in glasses, Georg, asked while adjusting his glasses.

"We'll have to eliminate James Alaverus before we think about capturing the nine tailed fox." The young man in Chinese attire, who also seemed to be the leader of this group of youths, Cao Cao, said calmly with a grin on his face.

"Do we have to?" The young woman asked. "According to the photo, he's really cute."

"That doesn't matter." The large young man said. "He's in our way, so we need to smash him."

"Heracles is right." Cao Cao said with a nod. "He's in the way of our goal. So, we have to get rid of him."

"That will be easier said than done." Georg replied. "If the rumors are real, he's stronger than all of us."

"That's all the more reason to fight him." The silver-white-haired young man said with a smile. "His swordsman ship must be the real deal then."

"*Sigh* Do you think of anything other than swords, Siegfried?" Georg asked in a tired tone.

"Is there anything else worth thinking about?" The silver-white-haired young man, Siegfried asked in genuine confusion.

To that, Georg sighed once again while the young woman, whose name was Jeanne, laughed.

"Sieg-Kun you're something else." Jeanne said with a smile.

"Unfortunately, I'll have to disappoint you, Siegfried." Cao Cao said with a shake of his head. "I'll take care of James Alaverus. He's a half-devil, so my [Sacred Gear] is the perfect thing to defeat him."

"*Sigh* Can I at least fight him for a little bit before you kill him?" Siegfried asked in a hopeful tone.

"Possibly, if time and circumstances permit." Cao Cao replied with a smile. "But for now, we should come up with a plan to get rid of him."

These five young people were the leaders of the Khaos Brigade's Hero Faction. All of them are either descendants of heroes from the past or spiritual reincarnations of heroes from the past. Either way, they all have adopted the names of the heroes they originated from. On top of that, they all contain [Sacred Gears] within their souls.

Like that, they spent the next few hours planning countermeasures for James' interference. In the present, the topic of the Hero Faction's discussions was returning to the Sitri hotel to attend his meeting with Serafall. Unusually, he was wearing a terrifying scowl on his face.

Although he was able to smile in front of Kunou, James was experiencing a rage like nothing he had ever felt before. Which is understandable. This was the first time he experienced the feeling of having one of his loved ones being targeted. And James was not a fan of that feeling. Clenching his fists as he walked back to the hotel, James reaffirmed his goal in this world.

'I have to become the strongest.' James thought to himself as he tried to calm his rage. 'So strong that no one would ever dare to consider targeting someone that I wish to protect.'

While James thought this, he also felt like his reason for wanting to become stronger was as cliché as it could be. But at the same time, this was the first time he had a reason attached to his goal of being the strongest.

'[So, he's finally got a reason for his pursuit of [Domination], huh?' Ddraig thought from inside the [Boosted Gear]. 'So far, James has yet to let his power go to his head, like my other hosts did. Usually, my hosts would be consumed by their newfound power and wish to dominate for the sake of it. But James wishes to dominate for the sake of those he cares about. I have to say, this is new.]'

For the first time in a long time, Ddraig was looking forward to what the future held for one of his hosts.

'[Don't disappoint me, Partner.]' Ddraig thought to himself once again. '[Show me how far you can go.]'

Spending half an hour walking back to the hotel from the Youkai Sub-Dimension, James was able to get his temper under control. Then, he entered the hotel's lobby and went through the check-in procedures. After a few moments, James had his room's keycard in hand. Wasting no time, James headed up to his room, the presidential suite, cause why not, on the top floor.

Stepping out of the elevator on the top floor, james found a familiar person standing in front of the door that led to his suite. Scathach was waiting for him there.

"Master, why are you here?" James asked as he approached the door. "I was going to come get you after I cleaned up a little."

Instead of responding, Scathach inspected James' face. Just as her stare began to feel awkward, Scathach spoke.

"What is the matter my disciple?" Scathach said softly. "If you wish to talk, I am willing to listen and provide advice should you wish to hear it."

James smiled wryly after hearing Scathach's words.

"I should have known you'd be able to notice." James said. "Even though I'm probably not doing the best job hiding it."

"Why would this Scathach not notice when not only my disciple, but my man is in a foul mood." Scathach replied with a smile.

James returned the smile, even if it was a little forced.

"Talking about it is probably a good idea." James replied. "But we don't have time now. And if time permits, I'll have a date with Yasaka tonight."

"I see." Scathach replied.

"But tomorrow, I'd love to get everything off my chest." James said with a solemn look on his face. "If I didn't happen to be headed to the shrine where the Youkai Sub-Dimension entrance is today, I would have never known something was wrong."

As James spoke the last sentence, he slid his keycard through the lock and opened the door. Then, he held the door open for Scathach, who entered the room without hesitation. James followed her shortly afterward. Then, as soon as he closed the door, Scathach wrapped him in an embrace, forcing him to rest his head in her bosom.

"It is good you found out about the shortcoming in the defense of those you treasure before anything irreversible came to pass." Scathach said softly as she ran her fingers through his braids. "We will discuss rectifying this oversight tomorrow when we have time."

Instead of responding, James simply allowed himself to sink into Scathach's bosom as he wrapped his arms around her waist. After a few moments, Scathach separated from James.

"That is enough moping." Scathach said. "We have an appointment to keep."

In response, James took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Then, he exhaled it all at once and put on his usual smile.

"Thanks, Master... No, Scathach." James said as he made his way to the bathroom. On his way, his luggage appeared in his bedroom from a magic circle. "Let me take a quick shower. Then, we'll head to Sera-Tan's room and discuss our strategy for the alliance."

"Very well, I will be waiting here." Scathach said with a smile as she watched James walk away.

About half an hour later, James and Scathach were standing in front of a door on the opposite end of the hotel's top floor. James and Scathach were both wearing casual clothes, as this was an informal meeting.

*Knock!* *Knock!*

"Coming! Coming!" Serafall shouted from the other side of the door.

Then, with vigor, Serafall flung the door open, wearing her custom-made Sailor Soldier uniform. Seeing that, James could only smile at the never-changing Serafall.

"Sera-Tan, it's good to see you." James said in a cheerful tone.

"Good evening, Satan Leviathan." Scathach said.

"No, no, no!" Serafall said while wagging her finger in front of Scathach. "Scat-Chan, how many times have I told you? Call me Levia-Tan! Or I will punish you in the name of the Satan!"

As she spoke, Serafall struck Tsukino Usagi's signature pose from the Sailor Moon manga.

"No, thank you." Scathach said dryly. "You should just be thankful that my spear has not found its way to your heart because of that nickname. It is even worse than the "Scatti" that Leona insists upon."

"Scat-Chan, you're no fun." Serafall said with a pout while puffing out her cheeks.

At the same time, James could not help but chuckle. Seeing serafall's antics helped a lot in washing away his negative emotions. However, he knew he had to say something or Serafall would have no problem going on for hours like this.

"Sera-Tan are you going to invite us in?" James asked with a smile while poking Serafall's poked out cheek with a finger. "Or do you wanna have our conversation about the alliance negotiations out here."

"Oh, that's right!" Serafall exclaimed as if she had just remembered. Which she probably had. Then, she continued as she rushed out of the door and began pushing James and Scathach into her suite from behind. "Come in, come in, please, come in!"

A few minutes later, James and Scathach were seated on one of the suite's sofas while Serafall was preparing drinks for everyone. A few moments later, Scathach entered the living room area from her bedroom carrying three glasses and a bottle of wine.

Naturally, James was surprised that Serafall was intending to serve them, especially him, wine. However, he quickly remembered that he was considered of age among devils.

'Have I spent too much time in the Human World?' James thought to himself. 'I'm starting to follow their laws for things like this before considering my status as an Ultimate-Class devil.'

"Here, we can talk relaxedly." Serafall said as she handed both James and Scathach a wine glass.

"Thanks, Sera-Tan." James said as he took the offered glass.

"Thank you." Scathach replied simply while also accepting a wine glass.

Then, Serafall opened the bottle of wine and poured each of them a full glass. After that, she took her seat and held up her own glass.

"Cheers!" Serafall exclaimed happily.

"Cheers." x 2

James and Scathach followed Serafall's lead. Then, they all took a drink from their glasses.

"I heard about the attack on lady Yasaka." Serafall said after setting her glass on the table. "How are she and her daughter?"

"They're fine." James replied. Then, through gritted teeth, he continued. "I'm just lucky I was nearby shortly after the attack started. If I had been a few minutes later, one or both of them may have been hurt."

"Yes, it's good that you were there, Jay-Kun." Serafall said with a smile. Then, she began to pat his head like he usually does with his girls. "Don't worry, we're trying to make this alliance work so that things like that don't happen anymore, right?"

James exhaled a sigh full of negativity, then smiled brightly.

"You're right, sera-Tan." James said brightly before taking another sip of his wine.

"So, did she say anything about what she wants for her faction from this alliance?" Serafall asked, making mental notes of James answer to her question.

"Yasaka said she would like an alliance of equals in all aspects, economic and military." James said, then took another sip from his wine glass. "But the two of you will have to discuss the details."

"An equal alliance, huh?" Serafall said to herself. "I guess we have you to thank for that huh, Jay-Kun. You're the one bridging the gap between our factions, this time."

From that point on, the trio continued to drink and discuss matters related to the alliance. However, after an hour or so, their conversation veered away from the alliance and turned into James and Serafall goofing around tipsily. Meanwhile, Scathach continued to drink and watch over the amusing duo. After a few hours, a dozen bottles of wine were emptied. And this was not just any regular human wine, this was some of the Underworld's finest, and strongest, wine that Serafall brought from her own personal collection.

Needless to say, James and Serafall were plastered after a few hours. Eventually, Serafall began to feel sleepy. James, who still had a bit of his consciousness remaining, decided that he should return to his room at that point. However, Serafall through a drunken tantrum when James suggested leaving. After a while, Serafall dragged James and Scathach into her bedroom and closed the door.