Fighting the Leader of the Rebels

Human World, Japan, Kyoto, Youkai Dimension.

"Well, now that that's over, thanks for letting us know what we walked into." James said with a smile. Once the karasu tengu reached his hand out and shook James' hand, he continued. "So, would you mind introducing yourself, Mr. Traitor? Or would you prefer, Boss of the Rebel Oni?"

"Oh? And what makes you call me that?" the karasu tengu asked with a smile.

"Well, you made a couple of mistakes." James said while shrugging his shoulders.

"And what were they?" The karasu tengu asked curiously.

"First of all, when you appeared you were among a horde of oni." James said as he stepped back, taking a protective position in front of Kunou. "And you weren't attacked when you made your way out."

"I forgot about that." The karasu tengu said while face palming. "In my defense, I didn't think they would lose."

"Classic villain behavior." James shrugged.

"Ha! And what was the second thing?" The karasu tengu asked with a curious smile.

"After seeing that I disabled the oni, instead of helping the soldiers under Lady Yasaka you just stood here as close to Kunou as possible." James said nonchalantly.

"But I could have been guarding the little fox princess from stray attacks." The karasu tengu countered.

"That's true." James said with a nod. "But when the seven strongest enemies were defeated, instead of seeing which of your comrades were still alive, you tried getting to Kunou again."

During this conversation, the girls took up defensive positions around Kunou for when the inevitable battle began between James and the karasu tengu. But for now, their conversation continued.

"I guess you're right." the karasu tengu smiled awkwardly while scratching the feathers on top of his head. "It would have been easier to lower your guard if I had showed concern for those fools."

"Dude, you're talking like a third-rate villain now." James said in disinterest.

"Haha! My apologies." the karasu tengu said with a laugh.

"So, I'm still waiting on that introduction." James said while looking the karasu tengu in the eyes. "Unless you don't have a name."

"Oh, right. You can call me Kotengu." The karasu tengu, Kotengu, said.

"One last question, if you don't mind." James said with his expression growing solemn.

"Sure." Kotengu said with a relaxed smile.

"What made you betray Lady Yasaka?" James asked, genuinely curious about the reason.

"It's actually quite simple." Kotengu said while stretching his arms wide. "I have been pursuing Yasaka for hundreds of years. If she became my wife, I would have the woman I loved and the power to rule the Youkai in our faction."

Kotengu finally lost his smile after reaching that point. With his emotions taking over, his aura began to leak. When the group felt his power, most of them felt despair.

"What the hell?" Flora said while falling to her knees.

"It's hard to breath." Reya said painfully.

The high-rank girls had it better, but they were unable to put up much resistance. Ayame, the only one who was not rendered immobile, held Kunou, who had fainted, in her arms protectively. James' expression also grew serious as he rested his right hand on Ochiru Sakura's hilt. And while Kotengu's aura was affecting James' group, he was completely unaware as his emotions had taken over.

"Instead of accepting my love, that whore, Yasaka, married another man!" Kotengu roared in rage. "And after finding out Yasaka was pregnant, I killed that bastard. Hahaha~~~"

'Ddraig, this guy is a step away from the minor god-rank.' James said inwardly.

"[I know]." Ddraig replied in a somber tone.

'I guess we'll have to go all out, this time.' James told Ddraig with a battle hungry grin making its way onto his face.

"[Releasing the seals?]" Ddraig asked curiously.

James deflated immediately. Thinking about what Scathach would do to him made him want to just let the Youkai figure things out on their own.

'No... But I'll have to use the [Balance Breaker.' James replied. 'I think I'll use "that," too.'

"[Oh, this should be good.]" Ddraig said excitedly.

Eventually, Kotengu ended his maniacal laughter. Then he looked over James' group and sneered.

"It looks like this fight will be over before it even starts." Kotengu said with a maniacal grin.

"I wouldn't count my chickens before they hatch if I were you." James said as he [Flash Stepped] next to Kotengu. Then, he grabbed the karasu tengu's shoulder and spoke to Ayame before using the [Flash Step] again. "Protect Kunou and the others. I'll take care of this jealous moron."

After that, James and Kotengu vanished from the spot. When they reappeared, they were several miles (1 mile = 1.6 km) away. James then released Kotengu and took his distance. Unconcerned with James' presence, Kotengu looked around his surroundings. Then, he turned toward James and spoke.

"Your speed is impressive." Kotengu praised.

"Well, I try." James said nonchalantly. "But I think it's time to end this little episode."

"I believe you are right." Kotengu said with a nod.

After that, Kotengu produced a long staff and flourished it before taking his stance. With power at the peak of the ultimate-rank, he really did not take the intermediate-level James seriously. Also understanding this, James spoke.

"Well, then let's get to it!" James shouted as he was covered in a bright red light.

[Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker: Boosted Gear Shihakusho.]

Once the bright light dimmed, James was revealed in a red Shihakusho with black accents and green jewels woven into the garment. Before Kotengu could speak about the phenomenon, James vanished with a [Flash Step] and reappeared in front of Kotengu drawing Ochiru Sakura for an iaido slash. Kotengu, however, reacted quickly. Spinning his staff, he was able to deflect the slash. Continuing to spin the staff, he also blocked the second strike as James used his momentum from the iaido draw to swing his sheath at Kotengu's face.

[Boost!] x 10

Seeing that Kotengu was still faster than himself, James began using his [Sacred Gear] to augment his abilities. Then, James and Kotengu participated in a deadly dance of sword slashes and staff strikes. As Kotengu controlled the range of the fight by keeping his staff in constant motion with wide sweeps and precise thrusts, James dodged and parried with a level of mastery that no one would expect from a combatant of his age. Then, whenever Kotengu would leave the occasional opening, James would swoop in with several sword slashes and thrusts of his own.

After fighting for several minutes at a speed even the strongest middle-rank would not be able to follow with their eyes, James and Kotengu separated. Then, Kotengu spoke.

"You are much better than I expected." Kotengu said with a blood thirsty grin.

"You're not too bad either." James said with a smile.

"But I think it's time for this to end." Kotengu said as he pressed a mechanism on his staff.

The ends of Kotengu's staff grew slightly longer due to the mechanism. Then, it split from the middle. Now, instead of a long staff, Kotengu wielded two quarter staves. With that, James' expression grew serious, and he spoke.

"Scatter, [Senbonzakura]."

As Ochiru Sakura broke down, James sheathed its hilt and drew Mangetsu no Shita de. Then with a [Flash Step], James entered his attack range. James began with a downward slash which Kotengu parried to the left. Using his momentum, James transitioned into a roundhouse kick that Kotengu ducked under only to follow up with a thrust with the staff in his left hand. James then used his supporting leg to summersault over Kotengu's head while using the spin to slash at the back of his head.

Kotengu raised the staff in his right hand to block. Then, when James landed, both spun on their feet and met weapons once again. At that moment, James directed [Senbonzakura] at Kotengu's back. Using his other staff, Kotengu spun it like a fan blade and deflected the petal blades. At the same time, he exchanged blows with James using his other hand. Then, James [Flash Stepped] away and made his way through the petal blades, which were still attacking. However, with his other hand free, Kotengu was able to disperse them easily. He was surprised however when James appeared from amidst the cloud of cherry blossom petals. Unfortunately, James was unable to take advantage of that surprise to inflict any critical strikes.

"Damn, this mother fucker is good." James said while regulating his breathing.

"[He's got centuries of experience, Partner.]" Ddraig reminded.

"I know." James said with a slight pout. "I was hoping I could beat him without using it, though."

"[Well, I'm waiting to see it in action.]" Ddraig said with excitement in his tone.

"Fine, I'll do it." James said with resignation. "Not that I have a choice at this point."

"Is that all you've got, boy?" Kotengu said, interrupting James' conversation with Ddraig. "If it is, then this is over."

"I have a few more tricks." James replied with a cheeky smile.

"You had better use them all." Kotengu said in annoyance. "I'm growing tired of this."

"Fine." James said with a shrug. "Just remember, you asked for this."

With that, James sheathed Mangetsu no Shita de and drew Ochiru Sakura's hilt. Then, he recalled [Senbonzakura] and Ochiru Sakura was reconstructed. A moment later, James fed his draconic aura into the sword, while spreading it along the ground in his surroundings.

[Boost!] x 50

[Transfer!]

After [Transferring] half of the fifty [Boosts] into his spiritual mark, and the other half into his draconic aura, James reversed his grip on the sword and dropped it. Surprisingly, the sword sunk into the ground as it rippled like the surface of a lake. Seeing this, Kotengu was surprised. Looking on with interest, he spoke.

"That's quite the parlor trick, I hope there's more to it, though."

James only smirked at Kotengu's words. Then, when James felt that Ochiru Sakura had integrated with his draconic aura sufficiently, James willed it and one hundred copies of Ochiru Sakura's blade rose from the draconic aura covered ground.

"What the hell?" Kotengu asked in confusion while turning his head to see the one hundred massive katana blades that surrounded him. "Where the fuck did all these blades come from?"

"If that's enough to surprise you." James said with a smile that turned into a blood thirsty grin as he continued. "Then this next part will be to die for."

"Scatter, [Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.]"

As James said the trigger words, the hundred massive katana blades broke down into ten thousand cherry blossom petal-shaped blades, each. Seeing this phenomenon, Kotengu's expression fell. Then, he began flowing massive amounts of his Youki into his staves and took his stance. After a moment, the massive cloud of cherry blossom petal-shaped blades engulfed his figure, causing him to lose track of James' position.

After brandishing his staves for the next six minutes, Kotengu was still standing, though he was covered in blood as well as both shallow and deep injuries. At that moment, the cloud of petal blades began to thin out. Just as Kotengu relaxed his guard, thinking that the technique's time limit had arrived, James appeared in front of him with Mangetsu no Shita de sheathed and in an iaido stance.

Then before Kotengu could react, James drew his sword and sheathed faster than even Kotengu could follow with his eyes. After that he turned and walked away, leaving a confused Kotengu standing behind him. Then, a moment later, A red line appeared on Kotengu's torso. Drawn from his left hip to his right shoulder, the line burst, and blood sprayed from Kotengu like a fountain.

"Damn." Was Kotengu's only word before he fell to his knees, then face first on the ground while losing consciousness.

"[I thought you would kill him, Partner.]" Ddraig said with confusion in his tone.

"I probably would have, before." James said while looking down on Kotengu.

"[What made you change your mind?]" Ddraig asked curiously.

"It was when he admitted to killing Kunou's father." James said while clenching his fist. "Such a sweet little girl deserves a whole family."

Ddraig did not respond, but he agreed with James. Even though he would never admit it out loud, he too had taken a liking to the adorable little fox girl over the last year.

"Well, we should go back and tell the others the good news." James said with a smile.

James then released his [Balance Breaker] and hoisted Kotengu's unconscious body over his shoulder. While turning back in the direction of Yasaka's residence, James condensed the draconic aura he had spread through the ground. Then he retracted it. As he did, Ochiru Sakra rose from the ground in front of him. As he withdrew the last of his aura, James wrapped his hand around the sword's hilt and sheathed it.

"Now that that's taken care of, let's get going." James said as he vanished from his spot with the [Flash Step].