Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
Several days have passed since Yuuto encountered Freed and the Church girls recovered the Excalibur fragment. The mid-term exams were right around the corner, as well. Today, a Sunday, James and Mizore were sitting in James' art studio. Mizore was waiting while James drew a sketch of the main character of his next manga.
"Okay, I'm done." James said while putting down his pencil.
"Let me see, let me see!" Mizore said excitedly.
Not waiting any longer, James lifted his sketch pad and turned it around. What Mizore saw was a girl wearing a sailor uniform with a very short skirt, knee-length boots, and elbow-length gloves. She had long hair styled into twin tails with ball shaped buns at the base of each tail and a tiara covering her forehead.
"The uniform is cute, but why is the skirt so short?" Mizore asked while scrutinizing the sketch. "And what's her name?"
"The short skirt just kinda struck me." James said with a shrug. There was no way he was revealing his memories from a past life to anyone else. "And her name is Tsukino Usagi."
"Usagi? Like 'rabbit'?" Mizore asked curiously.
"That's right, there will be puns and running gags about it throughout the series." James replied with a smile.
"And what's this manga gonna be called?" Mizore asked excitedly.
Mizore's excitement made sense, this would be the first manga James drew with a female main character. Naturally, she was very excited about how it would go.
"The manga will be called 'Sailor Moon' and the story will go something like this..." James said as he began to explain the plot loosely.
After about fifteen minutes of questions and answers from the excited Mizore, they were interrupted when James' phone rang. Picking it up from the table next to his drawing tools, James saw that it was a call from Lady.
"Yo, Lady. What's going on?" James asked casually.
"{The two girls from the church ran into Freed Sellzen a little while ago.}" Lady replied calmly. "{They chased him into the hideout where the old man was hiding. We're not sure what's going on exactly, but there is a strong barrier over the hideout now.}"
"Well, this doesn't sound good." James said with a slight frown. "Where's Dante?"
"{He snuck inside as well.}" Lady replied. "{I don't think you need to worry, though. I doubt there is anyone powerful enough to catch him if he wants to leave.}"
"I hope you're right." James replied. "I really hope my advice from last time stuck."
"{Oh, they're coming out.}" Lady said as her voice rose in pitch slightly. "{It looks like the brown-haired girl is injured. Dante is carrying her while the blue-haired one is running with him.}"
"Is anyone follow..." James began to speak, but his following words were caught in his throat.
James was interrupted because as he began to speak, he felt the power of an ultimate-rank being. One much stronger than Dante.
"Shit! That holy power is on the level of a peak ten-winged angel or fallen angel." James said with a scowl. "Lady, tell Dante to head toward my house, quickly. You come too. Shit could get real."
"{Understood.}" Lady replied quickly before cutting the call.
Taking a moment to calm himself, James breathed deeply.
"James, what's wrong?" Mizore asked with concern. "Is everything okay?"
"*Sigh* Mizore, inform the rest of the peerage. Let Rias and Sona know that we need them and their peerages to gather as fast as possible."
Without questioning her orders, Mizore nodded and sprinted out of the art studio. Shortly after Mizore left, James took one more deep breath. Then, with a battle hungry grin on his face, James spoke.
"Ddraig, this could be a lot of fun."
"[This shouldn't be a test for you.]" Ddraig replied. "[If you use the balance breaker, you probably won't have to use any boosts, though.]"
"That's fine by me." James replied with the smile still present on his face. "I'll be able to test my skills against someone with at least a thousand years of experience."
"[That's true.]" Ddraig replied with a laugh. "[It's too bad that whoever this guy is won't be strong enough for you to use 'that.]'"
"Nah, we both know who 'that' is reserved for." James replied with a shake of his head. "Anyway, let's get ready. They're approaching fast."
"[Right.]" Ddraig replied in an excited tone. "[Someone new to dominate.]"
"Hahaha! That's right." James laughed loudly as he left the art studio and waited for everyone to arrive outside of his house.
As James left the house, he was accompanied by Mizore, Cu Chulainn, Tsubaki, who was hanging out with Cu Chulainn in his bedroom, Moka, Shuna, and Shion. A few moments later, Sona and the rest of her peerage met up with them. Flora arrived not long after them. And a few moments after that, Rias and her peerage showed up. Apparently, they used teleportation to pick up Issei and Asia, which would explain why they were a bit later than Sona.
"James, what's going on?" Rias asked as soon as she arrived.
James had refrained from explaining the situation to Sona and her peerage when Sona asked the same question not long ago, since he knew, he would have to explain it again when Rias arrived.
"The church girls chased the psycho priest into a trap." James said calmly. "From what Lady said, one of them was injured by it. Luckily, Dante was shadowing the priest and he was able to save them."
"*Sigh* I was expecting something like that." Sona said. "But that doesn't completely explain why you gathered all of us."
As Sona spoke, James was scanning the faces of those gathered. Noticing that someone was missing, James turned to Sona to ask about it.
"Sona, where is the new guy... What was his name again?"
"Saji Genshirou." Sona replied. "He's on his way here."
"Why didn't you teleport him here like Ri Ri did with Ise and Asia?" James asked curiously.
"Because my [Queen] was indisposed." Sona said while adjusting her glasses.
Hearing that, Tsubaki, who had taken her place at her [King's] side after she arrived, blushed in embarrassment. However, since this emergency was so sudden, Sona had nothing else to say about the matter.
Shortly after Sona's response to James' question, the group saw Dante carrying Irina, who was clearly injured, in his arms while Xenovia hung on to his back with everything she had. Following them, from the sky, was a tall man wearing a black robe with purple shoulder pads and gold accents and accessories. Behind his back were five pairs of black feathered wings. He had long black hair, red eyes, and ears pointed like those of elves.
"We should have known he would be the one behind all of this." Sona said while looking at the approaching figures.
"Yeah, especially since he tricked those other fallen angels into acting up here at the beginning of the school year." James said, responding to Sona's words.
A moment later, Dante appeared in front of James with the two girls.
"I could have got in and out without getting caught, but I pitied these girls for their idiocy." Dante said in a disgruntled tone.
Shortly after Dante spoke, Lady also arrived.
"That was quick, Lady." James said with a bit of surprise.
"I was closer than Dante." Lady said with a shrug. "He's a lot faster than me, though."
A moment later, the fallen angel also arrived.
"It really is you, Kokabiel." Rias said with a frown. "Why are you here? And why are you causing trouble in our territory."
"Oh, my. To think the rats that intruded into my hideout would lead me straight to the people I wanted to see." Kokabiel said with a smile. "I've come here for one simple reason. To kill the younger sisters of the current Satans."
"That would lead to the Great War starting all over again." Sona said with a frown. "I'm sure you're aware of that."
"Of course, I am!" Kokabiel said with excitement in his tone. "Starting the great War is all I've ever wanted ever since it ended. I never even wanted it to end in the first place."
"Well, we already knew he was one of the hardliners." James said quietly. "But man, he really takes it seriously, doesn't he."
Not paying attention to James' comment, Kokabiel spoke once more.
"During our little chase, I sent my underlings to your school to set up a little ritual." Kokabiel said excitedly. "Well two of them, actually. I would suggest you make your way there soon. I wouldn't want you to miss the fun, after all."
After finishing what he had to say, Kokabiel immediately turned and flew toward Kuoh Academy. Until they could no longer see his silhouette, they were able to hear his laughter echoing across the skies of the town.
"Bad news, James." Mizore said with a slightly pale face.
"What's wrong, Mizore?" James said in a slightly exasperated tone.
"There are a whole lot of fallen angels coming from the north." Mizore responded.
"Lovely." James said before looking in Rias and Sona's direction. "I'm going to take command in this situation. Since I'm the guard assigned to the two of you, I don't think I'm overstepping my bounds, right?"
"That's fine with me." Rias said while shrugging her shoulders.
"You're the strongest one here, anyway." Sona said while similarly shrugging her shoulders.
James was a bit surprised at the seemingly uncaring attitudes of Rias and Sona. He shook off that thought, though. Instead, he decided to believe that they simply believed in his strength.
"Anyway, we're going to have to split into three groups for this battle." James said with a serious expression on his face. "Lancer, you lead the rest of our guys and intercept the incoming fallen angels. I need you guys to move fast, we need to keep the battle as far away from the town as possible."
"Got it." Cu Chulainn replied seriously. "Come on guys let's go. Dante and Lady, you will be paid by how many enemies you take down and how strong they are."
"Hell yeah!" Dante exclaimed.
"Understood." Lady answered seriously.
Then, Cu Chulainn led the rest of James' peerage toward the north of the city. With them all being at the high-rank, their speed was nothing to scoff at. Then, James turned toward Sona.
"Sona, I need you and your peerage to set up and maintain the strongest barrier you can make around the academy." James continued with his orders. "Unfortunately, your peerage doesn't have enough combat experience to participate in this fight."
"I understand." Sona said with a nod. "We'll be able to put up a barrier with no issue."
"Good." James said with a nod. Lastly, he turned to Rias before continuing. "Ri Ri, you, and your peerage are with me. You will handle the forces Kokabiel has with him in the academy. I doubt they should be too much for you all to handle, so I'll leave them to you. And I'll handle Kokabiel."
In response, Rias and her peerage nodded confidently.
"You're going to fight Kokabiel alone?" Xenovia asked in a tone of disbelief. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"Oh, I forgot you were here." James muttered to himself as he looked at Xenovia who was holding Irina in her arms. "You, come with us. You brought this mess with you, sorta, so you can help us clean it up. *Sigh* Asia, I need you to stay behind and heal the injured one."
"I understand, James-Senpai." Asia said with conviction burning in her eyes.
Then, once all the orders were given, James, Rias, Sona, their peerages, and Xenovia walked toward the school. The reason they walked instead of teleporting was quite simple. They were expecting Saji to join them along the way. And just as they expected, Saji met them shortly after the group left the high-class residential area where their homes were located.
AS they walked toward the school, they tried to iron out as many of the fine details of their plans as they could. Eventually, about twenty minutes after they left their homes, they arrived outside the gates of Kuoh Academy. Then, Sona and her peerage spread out, as quickly as they could, around the academy grounds and started erecting a barrier. Once it was ready, James spoke to Sona once more.
"Sona, once we go inside, make sure to contact your sister and Rias' brother." James said solemnly. "I'm not planning on losing, but you never know what could go wrong in battle."
"I know." Sona said as she stepped closer to James.
Then, she gave him a quick peck on the lips and stepped away.
"That was for good luck." Sona said with a smile. "Now, go teach that overgrown crow his place."
James nodded in response with a battle hungry smile on his face. Then, he turned toward Rias and nodded at her, her peerage, and Xenovia, who all had serious expressions on their faces.
"Let's go." James said as he walked toward the temporary opening in the barrier.