143 James vs. Scathach

Land of Shadows, Dun Scaith.

Today is the day everyone has been waiting for. Day 4 of the last five days of the training trip to the Land of Shadows. And today, James is scheduled to fight against his master, Scathach. Waiting for the fight to begin, Sona, her peerage, and James' peerage were standing outside of the training field as they watched James and Scathach.

"So, James has seals like you did, right?" Tsubaki asked Cu Chulainn.

"That's right." Cu Chulainn replied with a nod. "I'm not sure how strong he'll be once they are removed, though."

"You lost two days ago, what do you think James' chances are?" Dante asked, inserting himself into the conversation.

Frowning slightly at the overconfident half-devil in front of him, Cu Chulainn managed to respond calmly.

"I'm not sure, but his chances are definitely higher than anyone here." Cu Chulainn answered. "Oh, it looks like Master is about to remove the seals."

Meanwhile, while everyone else was chatting about the upcoming fight, James and Scathach were also engaged in conversation.

"I am sure that Setanta told you what I expect of you during this test, correct?" Scathach asked calmly.

"That's right." James replied with a nod. "All I need to do is survive while you assess my progress."

"Correct." Scathach said with a nod.

"But I don't plan on just surviving." James said with a battle hungry smile. "I have every intention of winning."

Hearing that, an almost imperceptible smile made its way onto Scathach's face.

"We will see about that." Scathach said before she unlocked James seals just as she had done for Cu Chulainn. And when the seals were unlocked, just like Cu Chulainn, James was covered in light. However, unlike the white light that covered Cu Chulainn, James was covered in a like pink color, reminiscent of Cherry Blossoms.

"Well, I guess that makes sense." Sona said as she looked over the light display James released.

"Yeah, I guess that's the color I most associate with him." Moka said. "It would be weirder if it was some other color.

Agreeing with Moka's statement, Sona, Mizore, Cu Chulainn, Dante, Lady, Flora, Ayame, Shuna, and Shion nodded. But before they could say anything else, their faces began to pale. James' power also began to skyrocket. Almost immediately, James' rank rose from ultimate-rank to minor god-rank. Then, for the next few minutes they could feel it climbing steadily.

"James' power is starting to approach my older sister's." Sona said with shock in her eyes.

Scathach was also surprised. Although it would be a while before James could reach her level, she knew that he should be able to reach her level of power sometime in the near future. And if she were correct, he would be able to reincarnate her if he were able to defeat her. That was a large if, however.

Eventually, the light dimmed, and James' figure was revealed once again. As soon as the light was gone, James took full advantage of the one minute he was given to adjust to his new strength. And like Cu Chulainn had done two days prior, he went through a series of exercises to understand what he could and could not do. Then, he placed his right hand on the hilt of Ochiru Sakura and dropped into an iaido stance.

*Swish!*

*Clang!*

As soon as James' grip tightened around the hilt of his sword, James drew the sword and deflected Scathach's thrust upward. Then, he drew Mangetsu no Shita de with a reverse hand grip and slashed at Scathach's throat.

*Clang!*

Before James could land the first strike of the fight, Scathach materialized a second, identical spear in her left hand and used it to block James' second strike. Then, using the counterforce from Scathach's defense, James pushed himself backward to gain a bit of distance.

"[Balance Break!]" James cried before his feet could touch the ground again.

[Welsh Dragon Shihakusho.!]

[Boost!] x 5

Once James' feet touched the ground, he shot himself back at Scathach with his left hand stretched forward, Mangetsu no Shita De held in reverse grip. Slashing upward at Scathach's chin and causing her to tilt her head back due to his increased speed, James followed up with a back heel kick that Scathach blocked with the spear in her left hand. Then, she retaliated with a thrust from her other spear. James then parried the thrust to his right and once again swiped at Scathach's throat with Mangetsu no Shita de.

Bending her back into a bridge, Scathach then flung her feet backward in an attempt to kick James in the chin. Reacting quickly, James leaned his head back, narrowly avoiding the tip of Scathach's boot. Then, before she could regain her footing, James pointed his right hand at the spot where Scathach would land.

"[Hado Number 31: Shakkaho]" James cried as he fired a fiery red orb in Scathach's direction.

Noticing the incoming flaming projectile, Scathach crossed her spears in front of her. Then, due to the impact, she was sent flying backward. Then, after flying backward for close to 650 feet (approx. 200 m) Scathach could hear the faint sound of James voice.

"The oozing crest of corruption. The arrogant vessel of madness. Deny the seething urge to let things stun and flicker. Disrupt the sleep. The crawling princess of iron. The eternally self-destructing doll of mud. Unite, repulse, fill the earth, and know your own powerlessness. [Hado Number 90: Kurohitsugi]."

Then, before Scathach could escape the area, a purple and black swirling cube surrounded her. Inside the cube, the forces of gravity were in disarray. Pushing and pulling Scathach's body in all directions.

"What the hell is that?" Dante asked with his eyes wide open. "Has he really mastered one of his [Kido Spells] in the nineties?"

"Obviously." Lady said while rolling her eyes. "If not, then what do you think that is?"

"Does anyone know the effect of that spell?" Sona asked.

"Haven't you read Bleach, Sona?" Reya asked.

"I have, but I don't remember what this spell does." Sona said with a pout. "I only remember that it didn't work on Ichigo."

"Basically, it causes a gravitational distortion inside of the cube." Reya said calmly.

"A spell like that would tear apart most enemies without issue." Lady said.

Meanwhile, right after the cube was erected around Scathach, James moved on to the next part of his plan.

[Boost!] x 6

[Transfer!]

Using half of his new [Boosts] James [Transferred] them into his draconic aura and spread it around him. With a thin layer of draconic aura coating the ground, James [Transferred] the other three [Boosts] into his sword, Ochiru Sakura. Then, he pointed the blade toward the ground. And let it fall.

"Scatter, [Senbonzakura Kageyoshi]."

As the sword should have made contact with the ground, instead, it sank into the draconic energy that coated the ground. Then, a moment later, one hundred copies of Ochiru Sakura's blade that had been enlarged ten times began to grow from the ground around James. At the same time, several holes were punched into the black and purple cube that was surrounding Scathach.

"Damn, I thought it would hold her for at least two more minutes." James said with a wry smile. "Well, at least I had enough time to finish."

After that, the hundred swords around James all broke down into the petal-blades that were commonly associated with James. Then, James pointed a finger toward the cube that would soon be destroyed. A moment later, the large cloud of cherry blossom petal-shaped blades flew to surround the gravitational distortion trapping Scathach.

*Swish!*

Just as the cube was surrounded, Scathach destroyed the cube.

"To think you would gain basic mastery over gravitational forces." Scathach said as she scanned her surroundings. "Well, this is new."

As Scathach stood there, it was easy to see that she had taken more damage than James or Cu Chulainn had been able to inflict at any time in the past. Her purple body suit was damaged all over, there were patches of blood all over her body, and one of her shoulder pauldrons was all but missing from her left shoulder.

"It is." James nodded. "This was developed after you helped me unlock the [Balance Breaker] last time I was here."

"Well done." Scathach replied with a nod.

"Thank you." James replied with a smile. "Now, let me show you what else I've developed. [Gokei]!"

With that command, the petal-blades formed into a hemisphere around Scathach and began to shrink the size of the hemisphere. Understanding how dangerous this attack was, Scathach readied her two spears. Then at high-speed, she began to fend off the incoming petal-blades.

"Damn, that is nuts." Dante said after seeing James putting Scathach on the defensive. "He's in his own league at this point, huh?"

"You make it seem like you were ever in his league." Mizore said with a sharp tone.

"Calm down, Mizore." Moka said as she placed her hands on Mizore's shoulders. "We all already know that Dante has never been on the same level as James."

At that point, Dante decided that arguing with these love-struck girls was not worth the headache it would bring.

Eventually, the sphere of petal-blades was dispersed by Scathach. Then, she charged toward James with a spear in each hand. In response, James ordered the petal-blades to return and surround himself and Scathach.

"[Senkei!]" James said as he blocked the first incoming strike from Scathach with Mangetsu no Shita de.

As James struggled to fend off Scathach's onslaught with a single sword, the petal-blades surrounding him and Scathach formed themselves into a thousand glowing pink copies of Ochiru Sakura. Then, one of the swords flew into James' hand and he used it to make defending from Scathach's attacks easier. And after reading the rhythm of the battle for a few minutes, James began to counterattack.

As James and Scathach clashed, James freely switched the copy of Ochiru Sakura in his hand with the copies that surrounded the battlefield. James could also freely disperse the swords into petal-blades, which made catching Scathach off guard much easier.

wounds began to appear on both of them. With stab holes appearing all over James' thighs and torso, with the exception of any vital spots, James was beginning to slow down. Just like James, Scathach was also covered in more wounds. James was able to land more than a few strikes that added to the wound's present on Scathach's body that she received from being trapped inside the [Kurohitsugi].

"[Partner, if things keep going like this, you're gonna lose.]" Ddraig said.

'I know.' James replied internally. 'But it's not over yet.'

"[But if you wait much longer, you won't have enough energy to use it.]" Ddraig warned.

'Then I guess, I'd better use it now.' James said as he began to fight defensively.

Then, as James continued his exchange of blows with Scathach, he began to speak in a sonorous voice.

"I, who is about to awaken, Am the Red Dragon Emperor who walks the true path of Domination."

From the distance, the other youths were surprised. They had never heard James' chant like this before.

"What is he chanting?" Flora asked. "Is this another [Kido Spell]?"

"I don't think so." Reya said. "I don't remember anything like that from Bleach."

"On top of that, he just mentioned the Red Dragon Emperor." Shuna added.

"Subjugating the Infinite and breaking the dreams of those who would dare to stand on my path. I will embody all that defines a Dragon Emperor."

As James' chant continued, Scathach did all she could to halt it. Although she knew of the Dragon Emperor's [Juggernaut Drive] transformations, which used the wielder's life force to power it, she could feel that this was somehow different. Unfortunately, her efforts were for naut. And when he finished his chant, Scathach was forced to take distance by the explosion of James' aura.

"And I will lead you on the path of Conquest, while glowing with the light of victory."

[Tyrant Dragon Domination Drive!]

As the Ddraig's voice rang out from the [Boosted Gear], James red shihakusho with black accents inverted its color scheme. Then, a sleeveless, white haori with the word "Alaverus" stitched vertically appeared.

"*Sigh* Even though I fixed the problem of draining life force; this still uses up way too much energy to maintain." James said as he held out his right hand and sheathed Mangetsu no Shita de in his left. "So, I'll have to end this in one strike, otherwise, I'll pass-out."

As James spoke, all the petal-blades began to form a single sword in James' right hand. Deciding that giving James the time to do whatever it was that he was doing was a bad idea, Scathach charged forth once again. AS she reached her optimum attack range, two things happened. First, James had just sheathed the sword formed from all those petal-shaped blades and dropped into an iaido stance. And second, Scathach thrust her spear at James' heart.

Then, in an instant, Scathach was standing behind James with her spear tip covered in James' blood. At the same time, James was stanning with his sword drawn, also covered in Scathach's blood. Without speaking a word, James' sword fell from his hand. Then, the petal blades dispersed.

"Damn, that really fucking hurts." James said as he covered the wound just above his heart with his right hand.

As James spoke, Scathach also dropped her two spears. However, she was unable to cover the large slash wound that reached from the base of her right thigh, past her heart, and ending at her left shoulder.

"You've done well... my disciple." Scathach said with a smile as the light in her eyes faded.

Then, Scathach's body fell to the ground lifelessly. Just after Scathach fell, James, with difficulty, made his way over to her side. As he arrived, his [Tyrant Dragon Domination Drive] transformation was dispelled.

"Holy fucking shit!" James cried in agony. "This big ass hole in my chest hurts even worse than before."

Even with the extra pain, James stretched out his right hand. A moment later, James' [Queen Piece] appeared floating over his outstretched palm. Then, James grabbed the [Piece] and dropped it onto Scathach's chest, as he was unable to bend down to place it on her chest like he usually does. And just as the [Queen Piece] sank into her chest, James lost consciousness with a smile on his face.