Wrath

Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital city, Lilith.

On the outskirts of the Underworld's capital city, with their wings spread wide, three dragons who were thought to be dead were floating above the newly established [Rating Game] School. Floating closer to the school was a young man with his own draconic wings spread. Everyone in the vicinity, however, could feel the anger rolling off the young man, James Alaverus, in waves.

"Holy shit..." Issei mumbled while he looked up at James. "Have any of you ever seen James-Senpai this pissed off before?"

In response, all the members of the three peerages, James' peerage included, shook their heads.

"He's usually so friendly." Asia said with a worried expression on her face. "It's kind of scary."

"You need not worry, Child." Scathach said while also watching James. "He has not lost control. In fact, I've never seen him lose control of his anger."

Meanwhile, James was sizing up his three opponents from outside Scathach's barrier as they watched and evaluated him as well.

"[So, what do you know about these three, Ddraig?]" James asked internally.

"[Well, the one in the middle is Grendel, The Crime Force Dragon. But I'm sure you knew that already.]" Ddraig said in reply. "[The only two things that interest him are fighting and destruction. He's a psychopath who enjoys combat and killing.]"

Grendel, floating at the center of the trio of dragons, was a 49'2" (15 m) tall bipedal, western dragon with bright silver eyes, horns, and wings, black scales, and thick limbs.

"[With a form like his, I'd guess he's into close combat.]" James said with a vicious smile on his face.

"[He is.]" Ddraig replied. "[And if I'm not mistaken, that fire breath was his, too.]"

"[Though it's nice to know, I didn't need another reason to kill him. Anyway, what about the other two?]"

"[On the right is The Eclipse Dragon, Apophis.]" Ddraig replied. "[I'm actually surprised that he's teaming up with Grendel for this attack.]"

"Why?]" James asked curiously.

"[Because he despises brutes like Grendel.]" Ddraig replied matter of factly. "[[He styles himself as a sophisticated dragon.]"

"[I see.]"

The aforementioned Apophis was an over 328 foot (100 m) long easter dragon with black scales. Along the length of his serpentine body were gems that exuded a mysterious silver glow. On his head, were three eyes that radiated the same mysterious silver glow, as well.

"And to the left, the Diabolism Thousand Dragon, Azi Dahaka.]" Ddraig continued with his introductions. "[He's just a sharp tongue brat who spends more time insulting people than doing anything else.]"

Somehow when Ddraig mentioned him, Azi Dahaka, a three headed dragon with three pairs of wings and dark purple scales, focused his six eyes on James.

"I feel like that kid was thinking something rude about me." Azi Dahaka's right most head said.

"He should be running in terror, instead of thinking bad things about me." Azi Dahaka's center head said.

"I think I'll kill him for his rude thoughts." Azi Dahaka's left most head said.

"Shut up." Grendel said. "I'll be the one that kills him. I'll kill him and everyone inside the barrier, too."

"*Sigh* You're so one dimensional." Apophis said in a disdainful tone. "I can't believe I was forced to work with a brute such as you."

"Oh, if you've got a problem, wanna fight?" Grendel growled, the light of excitement glowing in his eyes.

"He's right, you know." Azi Dahaka's left head said.

"You're nothing but a brute." Azi Dahaka's center head said.

"On top of that, you're dumb as a box of hair." Azi Dahaka's right head said.

"*Growl!* I'll kill you both!" Grendel shouted in rage.

As the three Evil Dragons began to argue, everyone inside the school looked at them with confusion.

"Did they come here to play around?" Moka asked curiously. "I mean, they aren't even taking James seriously."

"Well, what would you expect from Apophis, the fake Shadow Dragon?" Skiadrum spoke so that everyone could hear him.

"Fake Shadow Dragon?" Issei asked in confusion. "Does that mean his powers are like yours?"

"Not at all." Skiadrum replied disdainfully. "He uses his shadows to dissolve things that they engulf. "Such a crude way of using the shadows."

"I think James has gotten impatient with their bickering." Rias said, pointing one of her slender fingers at James who dropped into an iaido stance.

A moment later, James flashed with a red light and appeared in his [Balance Breaker] state. Then, he took a step forward and appeared above Grendel an instant later. He then drew Carnage, followed by Sixth Sense in a reverse grip.

"Inferno Dragon's Twin Fang Assault]."

At a speed faster than Grendel could register, and before the pain could alert him, James cut off both of Grendel's wings. Instead of feeling pain, however, Grendel was more confused that he was losing altitude. Eventually, Grendel roared in pain when the heat that cauterized the wounds registered with his brain.

"Ahh~~~! My wings! What happened to my wings." Grendel shouted in rage and pain as he began to pick up speed while falling.

"What a moron." Azi Dahaka's center head said.

"Such a late reaction." Azi Dahaka's right head said.

"How did he not feel that right away?" Azi Dahaka's left head asked.

"You can think about that later." Apophis said calmly. "If we don't do something, that brute is going to die."

"And?" All three of Azi Dahaka's heads asked simultaneously.

"Good question." Apophis replied while he watched James rush down toward Grendel.

Before Grenel could hit the ground, James rushed past him and prepared to attack again.

"[Inferno Dragon's Talon]." James said quietly as he launched a kick towards the falling Grendel.

*Bang!*

A loud, echoing sound could be heard as James foot contacted Grendel's chin. The next instant, Grendel was sent flying back into the air at a speed much faster than he fell. While Grendel was flying back into the air, James [Flash Stepped] to right above Grendel, once again, with Sixth Sense and Carnage sheathed. Then, he fell into an iaido stance as Grendel approached.

"Inferno Dragon's Sweeping Claw]."

Unsheathing Sixth Sense, James raked the blade across Grendel's eyes, causing the Evil Dragon's eyes to explode and blue blood to splash as a deep gash was left on Grendel's face.

"This is bad." Azi Dahaka's left head said in a tone of schadenfreude.

"This is really bad." Azi Dahaka's right head said in a similar tone.

"Indeed, this is bad." Azi Dahaka's center head said, also in a tone of schadenfreude.

"Yes, we both know it's bad." Apophis said, without panicking in the slightest. "But we should do something before Grendel dies."

"Why?" All three of Azi Dahaka's heads asked in unison.

"Because... uh... well..." Apophis began to stammer as he could not come up with a reasonable response.

"What are you mother fuckers doing!?" Grendel roared. "If you don't help me, we're going to fail our task."

"That's right!" Apophis and all three of Azi Dahaka's heads exclaimed, finally having a reason to intervene.

A moment later, Azi Dahaka created several clones of himself and began to form magic circles from all branches of magic. Then, a barrage of elemental magic spells was launched at James who was batting Grendel around like a volleyball. At the same time, the gems all over Apophis' body, along with his eyes, began to glow even brighter as a shadowy domain began to emanate from his body. Then, the entire mid-air battlefield was covered in dark shadows that no one from the ground, except for Scathach, Gondul, and Diehauser, who was watching from the window of one of the school buildings, could see through.

With his sight obstructed, James attacks on Grendel were not as precise. So, the frequency of Grendel receiving life threatening wounds decreased. On top of that, James was forced to dodge the multitude of spells Azi Dahaka cast in his direction. Unfortunately for Grendel, however, with his eye sight destroyed by James, he was unable to dodge the incoming spells. Luckily, his scales were strong enough that he only felt the impact of the spells instead of taking the full brunt of each spell.

"Damn, this is annoying." James muttered as he dodged a thunder attribute spell. "Even though I can see where they are with soul sight and my perception, it's not so easy to hit vital points like this."

"[Then, why don't you stop trying to hit vital points.]" Ddraig suggested. "[Even though you excel in close combat, you can use long and mid range moves too, right?]"

"That's right." James said as if he had received enlightenment.

A moment later, James stopped chasing Grendel. Then he took a deep breath. Once his lungs were full, he began kneading his demonic power. An instant later, he vanished from his spot with another [Flash Step]. Then...

"Inferno Dragon's Roar]." James said after reappearing in front of Apophis.

After speaking the name of the spell, a magic circle appeared in front of James' mouth, and he exhaled all the demonic power and flames filling his lungs. And considering that James lungs had been swapped for a pair of dragon lungs, the flames he exhaled were quite the amount.

"Ahh~~~~!" Apophis shrieked in pain once the scorching flames bathed his face and a good chunk of his body.

Feeling immense pain from James' sneak attack, Apophis' shadow domain began to weaken, making it much easier to see what was going on in the mid-air battlefield. Not wasting any time, James [Flash Stepped] back to his primary target, Grendel. However, before he began his onslaught once again, he pointed his left hand towards Azi Dahaka.

"[Hado Number 90: Kurohitsugi]."

The next instant, Azi Dahaka was covered in a black and purple cube of swirling demonic energy. Realizing that the gravity inside the cube was warped and pushed in all directions, he abandoned the control of his clones and focused everything he had into defensive spell casting.

James, finally free to deal with Grendel, turned his attention back to the heavily injured dragon.

"You made a big mistake trying to kill all those children. An even worse mistake was, trying to destroy Sona's dream, though." James growled in rage. "Now, it's time to put you down."

[Boost!] x 20

[Transfer!]

As James spoke, his power was [Boosted] ten times. At the same time, he [Transferred] half of the remaining [Boosts] into Carnage, while the other half went into his dragon aura.

"Scatter, [Senbonzakura Kageyoshi]." James said in an eerily calm tone.

Then, he unsheathed Carnage and let it fall. Before it could fall too far, however, it seemed to melt into the air. Then, a thousand copies of the sword, glowing in dusky pink light, appeared surrounding James and Grendel. A moment later, all one thousand swords began to break down into cherry blossom petal-shaped blades.

"Damn you!" Grendel shouted. "I don't know why some of my wounds aren't healing. But just you wait. When I'm healed, I'll definitely kill you!"

"Unfortunately, you won't get that chance." James said, trying his best to hold his rage in check. "[Gokei]."

When James finished speaking, the petal-blades began to swirl around James and Grendel. As they did, they created a sphere. Once the sphere was formed, it began to be compressed. However, as it neared James, the petal blades making up that part of the spere consciously avoided him. Then, once they were past him the hole in the sphere closed up on its own.

Meanwhile, back on the ground, the spectators were amazed that even when fighting three Evil Dragons, James was not at a disadvantage. Those who knew how strong James was, however, were not all that surprised. Those who were acquainted with his manga, however, were excited.

"That's Gokei, right!?" Reya asked in an excited tone.

"Hell yeah, it is!" Issei shouted in just as much excitement.

"Sona! Sona! That's [Gokei]! And [Senbonzakura Kageyoshi]!" Rias shouted while grabbing Sona excitedly.

"Oh yea, I guess you've never seen James use that before, huh?" Sona commented off handedly while adjusting her glasses.

"And you have?" Rias asked in shock. Then, she grabbed Sona by the shoulders and began to shake her violently. "When, why wasn't I there?"

While the spectators were in awe of the fight, James petal-blades had compressed the sphere to the point that the sound of scales being split and grinded was audible to the entire campus. Thinking that was not enough, however, James added a little something else to it.

"[Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Onslaught of the Inferno Blossoms]."

A moment later, James exhaled another fire breath. This time, it engulfed Grendel along with the million or so petal-blades.

"Ahh~~~~~~~~~!" Grendel Shrieked in agony.

Hearing that shriek, Apophis ignored the pain he was in, extended his shadow domain once again, covering most of the sky. And under the cover of the shadows, he crept back into the crack in the sky. At the same time, Azi Dahaka, inside of the gravitational cube, had similar thoughts. Deciding to ignore the backlash he would receive from trying to teleport out of an area with unstable gravity, he cast a teleportation spell with all his might and fled back to Rizevim's base.

"You think it's that easy to get away?" James roared as the attack on Grendel was coming to an end.

Eventually, when the petal-blades stopped spinning, Grendel's corpse, nearly unrecognizable because of all the cuts and gashes, became visible. Then, it began to fall. Luckily, it would land just outside the boundaries of the school's walls.

At the same time, just as James was about to give chase, Scathach appeared next to him with her wings extended and her hand resting on his shoulder.

"Calm down, my disciple." Scathach said calmly. "It is time to stop. You have already protected the school. Not to mention, it would be unwise to chase into the enemy's lair without proper preparations."

When he first felt the hand on his shoulder, James was prepared to lash out. However, when he heard Scathach's voice, he relaxed. Then, he realized how stupid what he was about to do was.

"*Sigh* You're right, Master." James said in a tired tone. "But what they did, trying to destroy Sona's dream, is unforgiveable."

"I know, and they will pay." Scathach said with a smile. "But rushing in without a plan is foolhardy at best."

"James, come back!" Sona shouted. "We still have more work to do. The open house isn't over yet."

Smiling in response, James collected all the petal-blades, dispelled [Senbonzakura Kageyoshi], and reconstituted Carnage, before sheathing it. Then, he and Scathach made their way back to the school grounds.