James Vs. Sairaorg II

[Rating Game Board].

"{The time to strategize is over!}" The announcer's voice rang out over the entire [Rating Game Board]. "{Now, let the [Game] begin!}"

As soon as the announcer's declaration ended, Sairaorg shot straight toward the [Defense Point] in the north.

"Let's go, make sure to follow the plan!" Sairaorg shouted as he ran at top speed.

"*Sigh* What kind of plan is 'Split up and overwhelm them from multiple directions'?" Said Sairaorg's [Queen], Kuisha Abaddon.

Kuisha is a beautiful blond woman with blue eyes, her hair pulled into a ponytail, and wearing an outfit that shows off much of her large breasts, cleavage, and shoulders.

"Calm down, Lady Kuisha." Said Beluga Furcas, one of Sairaorg's [Knight].

Beluga is a handsome young man with brown hair and green eyes wearing a set of medieval armor and riding atop a nightmare steed that emits blue-white flames from its hooves.

"*Sigh* I know." Kuisha said after taking a deep breath and exhaling her annoyance with a sigh. Then, her expression changed to a serious one and she began giving orders. "Coriana, Regulus, head northeast and attack the [Point] in the east."

Coriana, or Coriana Andrealphus one of Sairaorg's [Bishops], an attractive woman with long, wavy, blonde hair and red eyes wearing a red business suit with purple accents, simply nodded with a smile in response to her orders. Like Coriana, Regulus, a young boy with spikey, dark orange hair and golden eyes is Sairaorg's [Pawn] who took seven [Pieces] to reincarnate, also nodded his head in acknowledgement. Then, Coriana and Regulus took off in the direction of their objective.

"Ladora and Misteeta, you two will head directly east then directly north to also attack the east [Defense Point]." Kuisha said, continuing to give out orders.

Ladora Bune, one of Sairaorg's [Rooks], is a tall lanky man with green hair and red eyes while Misteeta Sabnock, a young boy with light green hair and violet eyes, both nodded in acknowledgement and took off toward the east.

"Beluga, go with Gandoma to the west then head north and attack the west [Defense Point]." Kuisha ordered.

"Yes, Ma'am." Beluga replied.

Gandoma Balam, Sairaorg's other [Rook], a 9'10" (3 m) tall man with tan skin, pale, bluish-grey eyes and a face that appeared to be more like a monster's than a man's, nodded in acknowledgement as he sprinted off with Beluga and his nightmare steed.

"We should get going as well, Liban." Kuisha said as she began to run to the northwest.

"Yeah, let's go." Liban Crocell, a young man with blond hair and silver eyes wearing light armor and carrying a sword, said as he also began to run to the northwest.

At the same time, breaking up into groups of three, the members of James' peerage, excluding James and Ayame, sprinted toward their assigned [Defense Points]. Meanwhile, James was using his presence detection to follow the movements of the opposing team.

"Well, if I had to guess, Sairaorg is running straight up the middle toward us." James said with his eyes still closed. "Then the rest are breaking up into groups of two and heading to the east and west [Defense Points] from two directions."

"Will you fight Sairaorg-Sama right now?" Ayame asked.

"I think I will..." James said as he looked toward the direction Sairaorg was coming from. "You can go wherever you want. Just take out as many as you can."

"Understood, James-Sama." Ayame replied as she vanished from her place.

"Her stealth is getting better." James said. "It's getting harder to detect her even when I combine my presence detection and soul sight."

Then, instead of running south, James stood in the middle of the plaza where his team started and waited for Sairaorg to arrive.

Meanwhile, Cu Chulainn, Flora, and Shuna rushed toward the west.

"We're almost there." Cu Chulainn said as he noticed the passage ending soon. "Because of the distance from the center, we should arrive first. But I need the two of you to stay on guard, we have no idea who we'll be facing or how many."

"Got it." Flora replied energetically.

"Understood." Shuna replied as well.

A moment later, the trio entered the plaza and saw the [Defense Point] a glowing circle on the floor in the center of the plaza whose glow reached the ceiling of the [Game Board]. When they arrived, Cu Chulainn signaled to Shuna, who immediately shut her eyes and began to sense the life force in the surroundings.

"There are two signals coming from the passage in the southeast." Shuna reported. "The rest are either coming from the south or went east. Either way, they're out of my range for now."

"That's good to know." Cu Chulainn said. "You two confront the ones coming from the southeast, I'll be on guard for more coming from the south."

"Okay." Flora and Shuna replied simultaneously.

Then, Flora and Shuna took up positions to intercept the attackers, with Flora standing further forward with her gauntlets and greaves equipped, sparks of thunder magic sparking on her fists and feet. Meanwhile, Cu Chulainn took up position near the [Defense Point] in a way that he could see the east, southeast, and south entrances to the plaza.

About two minutes later, Kuisha and Liban approached close enough to be seen from the plaza. They also could recognize who was there to stop them, as well.

"Liban, you go and keep Flora busy." Kuisha ordered. "I'll try to distract Shuna, maybe that will be enough for Beluga and Gandoma to take the [Point]."

"Got it." Liban said as he put the speed his [Knight Piece] boosted to the test.

*Clang!*

"Well, hello there, Liban." Flora said with a grin after blocking one of Liban's sword slashes with her left gauntlet. "How have you been?"

As she spoke, Flora pulled back her right hand and charged her demonic energy into her fist and gauntlet, causing them to spark more intensely with thunder magic. Then, she threw her fist at Liban's chest. Seeing the incoming attack and knowing that it was more than he could tank with his defense, Liban disengaged and stepped back quickly. After avoiding the strike from Flora, he thrust forward with his sword toward Flora's heart.

"Oh, my, you won't even return my greeting?" Flora said as she deflected the thrust with her right gauntlet. "You're breaking my heart."

Using the momentum from her parry, Flora quickly spun around and threw her right heel toward the side of Liban's head, who quickly raised his sword to defend with its flat side. Unfortunately, the force behind Flora's kick was more than he expected, and he was sent flying. On top of that, the thunder magic imbued into her greave left his sword arm feeling numb.

At the same time, Kuisha and Shuna were exchanging magic spells and [Youjutsu] at a furious rate. Bloodred fireballs and different elemental spells were flying between the two while they evaded or defended skillfully. Every now and then, one of Shuna's attacks would disappear into a dark hole that would open in their path.

"She's using her [Hole] ability!" Shuna shouted as she continued to exchange attacks with Kuisha. "Flora, you have to be on the lookout for any sneak att..."

Before Shuna could finish her warning, a kunai, seemingly coming out of nowhere streaked across Kuisha's throat. Then, the [Queen] was covered in pale blue particles of light before being teleported off the [Game Board].

"{Sairaorg Bael's [Queen] has retired.}"

"Uh... Never mind?" Shuna said after the announcer's voice sounded.

"Snap out of it Shuna!" Cu Chulainn shouted as he stepped toward the entrance on the south of the plaza. "We've got another group incoming."

Just as Cu Chulainn said, Beluga and Gandoma were quickly approaching from the corridor to the south.

"Right." Shuna said in a resolute tone. Then, she created two more of her blood-red fireballs in her palms.

Meanwhile, Moka was engaging in melee combat with Regulus who had promoted to [Queen].

"Damn! She got taken out so quickly." Regulus exclaimed as he exchanged punches and kicks with Moka. "Is Scathach over there or something?"

"Ha! Wouldn't you like to know?" Moka said as she successfully clinched her hands behind Regulus' head.

Then, with all her might, Moka pulled Regulus' head down while she raised her right knee toward his face. Reacting quickly, Regulus raised his hands between Moka's knee and his face. Unfortunately, he still ended up with a bloody nose after the backs of his hands were smashed into his own face.

"Damn it! That hurt!" Regulus complained as he wrapped his hands around Moka's thigh and threw her away from himself. At the same time, lady was keeping her distance and shooting down the magic spells Coriana was sending her way. At the same time, Coriana was forced to dodge bullets.

"How can anyone have marksmanship like that?" Coriana whined. "She's even shooting down thunder spells. This is insane."

Taking advantage of the distance he created by throwing Moka across the plaza, Regulus closed in on Lady and attempted to punch her. Using her submachine gun, Lady parried the punch and placed her pistol against Regulus' chest.

"Shit, she uses some kinda gun-kata." Regulus said as he used his left hand to knock away Lady's pistol."

*Bang!*

Although Regulus was able to divert Lady's barrel from its initial target, which was his heart, Regulus could still feel the pain of a bullet passing through the upper part of his left chest.

"Got damn it! That hurt!" Regulus shouted as lady quickly backed away from the boy who was actually the Independant Avatar type [sacred Gear], regulus Nemea. And as she did, Regulus' shape began to change. From a human boy, Regulus took on the form of a large, golden lion, standing at 14'9" (approx. 4.5 m) tall, with a golden mane and a golden jewel on its forehead.

"Seriously, he took on his true form this early in the fight?" Lady asked incredulously.

*Boom!*

From the spot she landed after Regulus threw her, Moka sprinted back onto the scene. Then, as Regulus was transforming, she leapt into the air with her fist drawn back. Then, when Regulus' transformation ended, Moka's fist struck the side of his large head, causing it to be snapped to the side. Unfortunately for Moka, her strike did very little damage. Before she could comment on that, she was forced to defend herself from the fireball that Coriana sent her way.

"What are we going to do about this big son of a bitch?" Lady asked.

"Honestly, I'm not all that sure." Moka said while examining their enemies. "I put everything I had behind that punch, and it only moved his head."

"Well, that makes perfect sense." Scathach said as she approached. "That is the Nemean Lion after all. His hide is said to be impenetrable. However, I think you should allow this Scathach to test that theory for herself."

Seeing Scathach approach, Regulus subconsciously took a step back.

"This is bad, Regulus." Coriana said from behind Regulus. "What are we supposed to do with Scathach?"

"I don't know." Regulus said. "But I should be able to keep her busy long enough for you and the other two to take the [Point]. We'll figure out the next step after that."

"Got it." Coriana replied. "I'll let the others know."

At the same time, James and Sairaorg have been exchanging punches and kicks without the concept of defense ever since Cu Chulainn and his group reached their [Defense Point]. Eventually, around the time Regulus began his transformation, James landed a knee strike to Sairaorg's chest that forced him back.

As soon as Sairaorg regained his footing, while wrapped in [Touki], he began throwing punches at high speed. Thanks to the friction between his fists and the air, his punches caught fire and those fireballs were launched at James in succession. Like some of the techniques James taught to his friends and loved ones, this was also a technique James stole from the Naruto Universe and shamelessly taught to Sairaorg as if he were the one who invented it.

"[Morning Peacock]!" Sairaorg shouted as he launched fireballs at his friend and rival.

"So, you finally mastered it, huh?" James commented as he drew back both of his fists. "But I have a move like that, too."

As James finished speaking, he flung both of his fists forward. And like Sairaorg, his fists were lit ablaze. However, instead of many fast punches and small fireballs, James' fists expelled a much larger, wave-like attack.

"[Tiger Shot]!" James shouted as he sent a projectile fire attack of his own.

Although James attack did not cover as great an area as Sairaorg's did, he only needed to stop the fireballs that were actually going to hit him. So, as the [Tiger Shot] collided with the fireballs from Sairaorg's [Morning Peacock], flames were sent in all directions, leaving burn marks all over the plaza.

"I've been waiting for an opponent that can take more than a few hits." Sairaorg said with a satisfied expression on his face. "Come on, James, let's keep going."

"Sure, whatever you want, Sai." James said, as he charged at Sairaorg to continue their fight.