Wrath Vs. Pride I

Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.

A moment before the live broadcast of the duel between James and Sirzechs began, Ajuka and Grayfia teleported into the Satans meeting room in the Devil Council building.

"Is everything alright?" Falbium asked in a tired tone. "We were expecting you to be here a little earlier than this."

"Well, let's just say that things are going to be more interesting than we expected." Ajuka said as he took his usual seat.

"What do you mean, Ajuka-Chan?" Serafall asked while tilting her head.

"I somehow managed to get Sirzechs' fighting spirit back." Ajuka said calmly. "That's part of the reason why it took so long to set up the safety measures."

"Part of the reason?" Falbium asked, opening his eyes slightly wider.

"The other reason is that the fourth Super Devil has been born." Ajuka said as he massaged his temples.

"Are you saying that Jay-Kun is in the major god-rank?" Serafall asked in an excited tone. "Then, I should ask him to draw another magical girl manga!"

Though Grayfia did not react in a visible way and continued preparing tea, Ajuka and Falbium stared at Serafall with blank gaze while she frolicked around the meeting room like an excited child.

'Aren't you supposed to be the one who does something for him, to celebrate his success?' Ajuka, Falbium, and Grayfia thought to themselves simultaneously.

"I believe the duel is about to begin." Grayfia said as she walked over with a tray, a tea pot, and three tea cups.

"Grayfia-Chan, sit down and have tea with us." Serafall said as she took her own seat again.

"Although I appreciate the offer, Lady Leviathan, I'll have to decline." Grayfia said as she served the tea elegantly.

"How many times have I told you to call me, Levia-Tan?" serafall said while pouting and puffing out her cheeks.

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

At the same time, James' parents, the three peerages, Irene, the Shiba siblings, the vampires, Genkai and Yusuke sat in the living room together, watching the duel's broadcast.

"Come on, James, kick his ass!" Leona shouted excitedly.

"I know he made you mad, Honey, but don't you think you're going a little too far?" Cassiel asked with a wry smile on his face.

"Hmph!" Leona snorted, then she looked at Cassiel with disdain. "Some father you are! Even if Sirzechs had been a perfect angel, I would always root for my James."

At that, Cassiel fell silent with his mouth and eyes wide open. Meanwhile, most of the girls were laughing at him for his stupid question. A moment later, Issa patted him on his shoulder with an understanding expression on his face.

"Don't look at me like that, Issa." Cassiel said as he swatted Issa's hand away. "I'd never scare James into thinking I would sacrifice him for his own good."

"What the hell?" Issa exclaimed. "Can't we go a single damn day without bringing that up?"

Then, as if they had been planning this for months, everyone in the room answered in unison.

"No."

Dimensional Gap, Temporary Battlefield.

"Hey, Sirzechs." James said with a friendly smile on his face. "I hope you're ready, because this isn't gonna be fun for you."

"Don't get cocky, Kid." Sirzechs said in a confident tone. "Just because you're in the major god-rank now, don't think that you're my equal. I'm called the strongest devil in history for a reason."

"Oh, you may be the strongest devil in history, for now." James said with his smile morphing into a battle hungry one. Then, he extended his draconic wings. "But what's a devil to a devil dragon."

[Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker: Boosted Gear Shihakusho!]

Unlike the usual red Shihakusho that usually manifests when James takes on his [Balance Breaker] form, the Protean Gear that he was wearing redesigned James attire. Now, James was wearing a sleeveless, more formfitting Shihakusho primarily consisting of black with red and silver highlights and green gems placed around the entire ensemble.

A moment later, James took a step forward and vanished from his starting spot.

'He's fast.' Sirzechs thought as James appeared right in front of him.

"[Inferno Dragon's Scorching Fist]." James said as he threw a fiery uppercut towards Sirzechs' jaw.

Although Sirzechs was able to react fast enough to raise his hands and guard the strike, he grunted due to the unexpected force behind James' blow. Then, he was launched high into the air. An instant later, James appeared above him with both of his feet ablaze.

"Inferno Dragon's Tail Whip]." James said quietly as he swung both of his legs at the quickly ascending Sirzechs.

*Bang!*

Sirzechs received the kick and was sent back down toward the ground. On top of that, the places where James feet made contact, were burning.

*Boom!*

The next instant, Sirzechs slammed into the ground like a small meteorite, causing dust and debris to be shot up into the air. Meanwhile, James lowered himself slowly just outside of the dust cloud's range. Then, he stood with his arms crossed and waited for the dust to settle.

A few moments later, Sirzechs walked out of the dust cloud just before it settled completely.

"I hope you didn't think that would be enough to defeat me, let alone harm me." Sirzechs said in an arrogant tone.

"Believe me, I was hoping that it wasn't." James said with the same battle hungry smile on his face. "If it was, I'd be sorely disappointed. That wasn't nearly enough to make you realize what kind of mistake you made by trying to humiliate me and then lie about it."

In response, Sirzechs gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"It would seem that you've grown too fast for your own good." Sirzechs said. "Not only have you forgotten the respect you should have for an elder, but you've forgotten the respect you should have for someone of my station."

"*Yawn!* Sure." James said, letting out a fake yawn, as loudly as he possibly could. "Your rhetoric is rather boring."

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

"Where's the sound?" issei asked frustratedly. "I wanna know what they're saying.

"Then, you should learn how to read lips, you perverted idiot." Koneko said, keeping her eyes on the TV.

Not only Issei, but most of the devils, who never went through Venelana's educational courses, and Yusuke looked at Koneko in awe.

"Learning how to read lips was part of Auntie Venelana's education back in the Underworld." Sona said, dispelling the doubts of those who did not know. "And the reason there is no sound, Issei, is because if there were, the weaker viewers would be injured thanks to all the sounds from the explosions. And don't get me started on the monetary damages from all the destroyed viewing devices."

"Either way, respect his station?" Leona said with a scoff. "Sirzechs sounds like a third rate villain right now."

Dimensional Gap, Temporary Battlefield.

"You know saying stuff like that makes you sound like a third-rate villain instead of one of the leaders of a race." James said while shaking his head.

Before James could pile on another taunt, an orb of [Destruction] appeared in each of Sirzechs' hands. Then, smaller orbs of [Destruction] were launched from each of those orbs towards James. James, without missing a beat calmly walked toward Sirzechs while avoiding each orb of destruction with minimal movement.

"Come on, Sirzechs." James said with a smile. "You can do better than that, right?"

Gritting his teeth, Sirzechs raised the firing rate of his attacks. However, James still maneuvered his way through the barrage with ease, adding the [Flash Step] into the mix. Seeing that simply firing faster did not help his cause, Sirzechs began to enlarge the projectiles. Seeing this, James placed his hand on the hilt of Carnage. Then, while injecting both his demonic energy and draconic aura into the blade, he swiftly drew the sword and split the closest [Destruction Orb] in half.

"What the...?" Sirzechs exclaimed, not forgetting to continue firing at his opponent. "How is that sword still in one piece?"

"That's a trade secret." James said with a smile.

'So, he was so arrogant that he didn't do any research on me at all?" James thought to himself as his anger rose slightly for being underestimated. "Well, whatever. Even if it would have made a difference, I would have still outclassed him in skill."

[Boost!] x 5

[Transfer!]

"Scatter, [Senbonzakura]." James said quietly after [Transferring] the [Boosts] into Carnage.

Then, the sword broke down as it usually does. Under James command, the petal-blades separated into groups and split apart any of the [Destruction Orbs] that were on course to hit James. With the projectiles taken care of, James sped up his pace. Then, when he felt he was close enough, he used the [Flash Step] and moved behind Sirzechs.

When Sirzechs reacted, James was already crouched down and sweeping Sirzechs' legs out from under him. With the force of his leg sweep, Sirzechs' legs were blown out from under him, to the point that he was laying parallel to the ground almost four feet (1 m) above it. Then, from an iaido stance, James drew Carnage's sheath from his sword belt and slashed it into Sirzechs back, launching him into the air once again.

"Damn it!" Sirzechs shouted as he flew upward.

Before Sirzechs could right himself, however, James appeared behind him and wrapped his arms around Sirzechs' arms and waist. Then, he angled both of their heads at the ground and began to spin.

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

"Hell yeah!" Issei shouted. "He used the [Dancing Leaf Shadow] and the [Primary Lotus]!"

Not only Issei, but Reya, Asia, and the other manga fans were excited to see James' move.

"Dam that [Izuna Drop]." Leona grumbled as she watched James' fight with a smile. "Damn that Hayabusa."

On the other hand, Leona, Genkai, and Yusuke were upset at seeing James pulling off one of the hardest moves to pull off in the Dead or Alive series.

Underworld, Satan territory, Capital City Lilith.

"Is this really happening?" Falbium asked, surprised at the one sided beating Sirzechs has been taking since the duel began.

"Is Jay-Kun really that strong?" Serafall asked, picking up where Falbium left off.

"This is what happens when you let pride carry you for centuries." Ajuka said. "Sirzechs hasn't taken part in a battle of this level since the Civil War. Well, there may have been one or two since then, but you get the idea."

Realizing that to be true, Serafall and Falbium nodded their heads at Ajuka's explanation.

"Then, there is James." Ajuka continued. "He's been fighting enemies at, slightly above, or slightly below his level since he started taking stray devil extermination jobs when he was eight or nine years old."

"Also, if I may." Grayfia added with her eyes glued to the monitor. "Young Master James has been training with Master Scathach since he was eleven. So, that would make seven years total."

Serafall and Falbium could only shake their heads when they remembered that fact.

"I guess this won't be as interesting as we thought." Falbium said. "*Yawn* I might as well take a nap."

"Don't write Sirzechs off so quickly." Ajuka said. "He is still quite powerful once he goes all out."

Dimensional gap, Temporary Battlefield.

*Boom!*

While rotating at high speed, James drove Sirzechs head first into the ground. Once another cloud of dust was formed, James shot out of it and landed on his feet looking no worse for wear.

"Come on, Sirzechs." James said in a bored tone. "It's obvious that if we stay at a similar level of power, there's no chance that you can beat me. Why don't you turn it up a notch?"

"If you insist." Sirzechs said in an eerily calm voice.

Then, all the floating dust and debris was forcefully blown away by a shockwave of power. When the view was cleared, the usual form of Sirzechs could not be found. Instead, only a black and red mass of the [Power of Destruction], in the shape of a man could be seen. Even Sirzechs' brilliant blue eyes were replaced with dark red ones.

"Just remember, you asked for this." Sirzechs said in that same calm tone as he vanished from his spot.

When Sirzechs' moved, James instincts began to scream at him with danger alerts. So, following his instincts, James spun around and crossed his arms in front of his chest while coating them in the densest layer of draconic aura that he could muster.

[Boost!] x 10

*Bang!*

Even after having taken a defensive stance and bolstering his defenses with his draconic aura and the powers of the [Boosted Gear], James was sent flying thanks to Sirzechs' strike.

*Boom!*

Unable to right himself, James crashed into the ground and yet another dust cloud was created.

"You should have known better than to challenge me, James." Sirzechs said with a proud smile on his face. "We're not in the same league... Hopefully, you're not too hurt, I didn't hold back with that..."

"Damn, that hurt more than I thought it would." James said as he walked out of the dust cloud while shaking his arms. "My arms are numb."

Sirzechs could only look at James in disbelief.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" James asked with a smile on his face. "I could fight and win against major god-ranked beings when I was still in the minor god-rank. Did you really think that it would be that easy now that I'm in the major god-rank like you?"