Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
A week has passed since the promotion exam fiasco. In that week, not much of note has happened. The only thing that happened was, James asked Muramasa to reforge Nothung and Tyrfing, two of Siegfried's demonic swords into one of his new swords. Other than that, school days have gone by peacefully, followed by club activities. However, today was an exception. During the lunch break, while the supernatural students were having lunch in their club rooms, James received a call from Dante.
"Hey, Dante, what's up?" James asked after answering the phone call.
"{We've got some illegal entries from the south.}" Dante said. "{Lady went to stop them, and she was attacked. They didn't even say anything.}"
Hearing that, James' aura exploded for a moment. Before it could influence any of the normal humans on campus, however, he reeled it in.
"Who are they?" James asked in a chillingly calm tone. "And how many?"
"{There were thirteen, according to Lady.}" Dante replied. "{She couldn't tell who they were, though. They were all covered in big ass black cloaks.}"
"Is Lady alright?" James asked.
"{Yeah.}" Dante replied. "{She said she tried to talk to them, and they attacked. Then, after she dodged, they rushed past her into the town.}"
"Well damn." James said. "I guess I'll check for myself. Thanks for letting me know."
With that, James and Dante ended the call. After that, James looked around the MMA Club where he saw Mizore, Moka, Flora, Shuna, Mio, and Maria looking at him with concern.
"It looks like our peaceful days are over." James said solemnly. "Dante just called and told me that Lady was attacked by unknown intruders into the town."
"So, what are we gonna do about it?" Moka asked.
"Give me a second." James said as he closed his eyes to spread his perception over the entire town.
A moment later, James opened his eyes with a smile on his face. As he did, the normal human members of the club who also like to have their lunch in the training hall began to fall asleep.
"Looks like I won't have to search anymore." James said as he stood up. "They're already here."
Hearing that, the girls also stood up and began to ready themselves for battle. On top of that, James could feel the other supernatural beings in the academy beginning to move as well.
"They put up a barrier around the whole school?" Mizore asked.
"They should be pretty strong if they can do this so fast, right?" Mio asked.
"Probably, high-rank at minimum, I'd guess." Shuna said.
"Well, let's take a walk." James said as his two swords appeared on his hip. "We can use it to help digest our lunch."
With that, the six exited the MMA hall. When they did, they noticed that the barrier did more than just putting normal humans to sleep. It also blocked out the rays of the sun, making the sky look as if night fell early.
"Vampires." Moka said.
"Vampires?" Maria asked. "Is that who put up the barrier? How do you know that?"
"Well, other than the fact that I was a vampire before I was reincarnated as a devil." Moka said with a wry smile on her face.
"Oh, yeah." Maria said before sticking out her tongue and bopping herself on the head.
"I don't know any other species that do this during the day." Moka continued.
"I agree." James replied. "Plus, they're on their way here."
Just as James finished, thirteen cloaked figures arrived in front of them. Then, the two leading figures removed the hood of their cloaks and stepped in front of the rest.
"Akua... Kahlua..." Moka said, clearly surprised at who the intruders were.
"Father has ordered us to bring you back." Akua, a beautiful woman with long black hair, red eyes, slit pupils, and pale skin said in a cold tone.
"Yeah, come home with us, Little Moka." Kahlua, a beautiful, tan skinned woman with wavy blonde hair and dark red eyes, said in a cheerful tone. "Then we'll be family like we were again."
"There's no way I'm going back." Moka said without hesitation. "I don't even know why they want me to come back, I'm not even a Shinso Vampire anymore."
"It doesn't matter why they want you back." Akua stated. "But you've been ordered to come back with us, and that's what you're going to do."
"Not a chance." Moka refused.
"If you won't go willingly, I'll drag you back." Akua said while narrowing her eyes. "After killing your friends, that is."
Hearing that, everyone on James' side frowned. Then, they began to laugh, with Mizore laughing the hardest.
"Moka, you know this chick, right?" Mizore asked while trying to keep her laughter under control. "Who is she?"
"That's my eldest sister, Akua Shuzen." Moka said while still giggling.
Hearing the young people laughing in front of her, Akua was a bit confused. However, she was more angry than anything else. She had never been mocked like this before.
"What do you find so funny?" Akua asked with a scowl on her face.
As she asked the question, the members of the Student Council and Occult Research Club showed up, surrounding the vampires from three directions.
"Have you even checked how strong we are?" Mizore asked.
"She probably hasn't." Moka said. "She would never believe that anyone of us could be stronger than her."
"Well, being at the initial-level of the ultimate-rank would make her a powerhouse wherever she goes." James said with a smile. "Seeing three high school kids who are stronger than her would have never crossed her mind."
Noticing that they were surrounded, Akua decided to check how strong those surrounding her were. When she did, her eyes opened wide. She could not believe that there were four people at the intermediate-level of the ultimate rank around her. On top of that, the caramel skinned boy in front of her was on a whole different level.
"Why wouldn't you want to come home to be with your family?" Kahlua asked in a tone of genuine confusion. "Moka, you're breaking your older sister's heart."
"Do you even know why I ran away in the first place?" Moka asked with a frown on her face.
None of the vampires answered.
"Because they wanted to sacrifice me to resurrect the primogenitor, Alucard." Moka said through gritted teeth. "So, please excuse me if I don't want to come back and 'be a family again.'"
"They would never do that." Kahlua said in disbelief.
Akua frowned after hearing that.
"Why would you say that?" Akua asked.
"Because I heard Father and Marius Tepes discussing it." Moka basically spat those words.
This time, both Akua and Kahlua were silent. Before they could formulate any words, however, one of the eleven vampires behind them, who happened to be at the peak of the ultimate-rank, dashed forward at Moka to take her away by force.
*Boom!*
Unfortunately, he found himself pressed into the ground, face first, by James' right hand before even getting into arm's reach of Moka.
"Not a good idea to try and touch my woman like that, right in front of me." James said in a cold tone.
"Release him immediately." Akua ordered.
"You would order around the disciple of this Scathach right in front of her?" Scathach asked as she walked from the direction of the main school building. "It would seem you are having notions that you have lived for too long."
After hearing the name Scathach, Akua's eyes opened wide. Then, she hurriedly looked in the direction that voice came from.
"Damn it." Akua said quietly. "The rumors were true."
"Who's Scathach?" Kahlua asked while tilting her head.
"It doesn't matter, we're leaving." Akua said.
"But what about him?" Kahlua asked while pointing at the peak ultimate-rank vampire James was pressing to the ground.
"Let him die." Akua said coldly. "He attacked without orders."
Although Kahlua was saddened by the decision, she knew that disobeying orders was not tolerated.
"And what makes you think you can just leave?" Rias asked from in front of the Occult Research Club members. "You entered devil territory unannounced and expect to leave in one piece."
"Because if you don't let us go, we'll destroy as much of this school..." Akua said coldly.
*Bang!*
Before her words even finished, Scathach slammed the butt of her spear onto the ground. Then, a hemispherical barrier rose around the entire group. Akua's eyes widened once again
"What were you saying?" Rias asked while tilting her head cutely.
At that, Akua gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. However, she had no idea what to say.
"So, what do you want to do with the ones who wanted to bring you back and sacrifice you, Moka?" James asked while casually suppressing the vampire beneath him.
"Can you let my sisters go?" Moka asked. "I don't care what happens to the rest, though."
Hearing that, James crushed the vampire's head with a single hand. Then, he stood up and drew Ochiru Sakura.
"No problem." James replied. "Scatter, [Senbonzakura]."
With that, the petal-shaped blades flew forward and minced ten of the remaining vampires into blood mist. Then, they returned to James and reconverged into Ochiru Sakura.
"Done." James said while sheathing his sword. "Now, you two can leave."
After James display, Akua and Kahlua were frozen in place. The Could feel the real possibility of death as the petals of [Senbonzakura] rushed past them and erased their comrades.
"Kahlua, let's go." Akua said with fear in her tone.
Kahlua could only nod while staring at James. However, her stare did not hold any fear. Instead, she seemed interested. Kahlua continued to stare until Akua's teleportation magic circle teleported them away.
"*Sigh* I guess we're going to Romania over the weekend." James said in an annoyed tone.
"Why?" Mizore asked curiously.
"Because it seems that the example I made out of Cao Cao was not enough." James said.
"Um... Excuse me..." Gasper said in a nervous tone as the rest of the groups walked toward the MMA Club.
"What's up, Gasper?" James asked.
"If you go to Romania, you're going to fight the vampires, right?" Gasper asked nervously.
"That's the plan." James replied.
"Can I go with you, then?" Gasper asked another question.
"Gasper?" Rias asked in confusion. "Why do you want to go with them?"
"Because... The person who helped me escape... Is still there." Gasper said in a sad tone. "I want to help her. She probably got in real trouble for helping me."
Hearing that, Rias and the rest of her peerage could only look at Gasper warmly. At the same time, James began to laugh loudly.
"Damn, Gasper!" James exclaimed after his laughter died down. "I never expected something like that from you. Looks like you're finally growing into a man."
Gasper blushed at James' enthusiastic declaration. In turn, the rest of the group laughed.
"As long as Ri Ri okays it, I don't mind." James continued. "But even if she doesn't, I'll save your friend for you."
"We'll all be going." Rias said with a frown. "They invaded our territory. That is a crime that can't go unpunished."
"Agreed." Sona said while adjusting her glasses. "This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated. If it is, it will show signs of weakness, and we are not weak."
"Right!" The members of the peerages cheered.
"However, we'll have to put that trip on hold for a while." Sona said.
"Why?" Rias asked while tilting her head.
"*Sigh* We talked about this only two days ago." Sona said in a tired tone. "Did you really forgot about making pacts with magicians from the Magician Association?"
James and Rias looked away awkwardly at the same time when Sona asked about their prior engagements.
"Ha... Ha... Of course not." James replied with a sheepish grin on his face.
Sona only rolled her eyes at James' attempt to appear innocent.
"We'll go after the first round of magician applicants are taken care of." Sona said with a note of finality in her tone.
James and Rias nodded in response, while the rest of their peerages chuckled at them. After that, a short, cute girl with pale skin, long dark purple hair tied into a braid with a bow that has a skull on it, and sleepy-looking golden eyes wearing a Grim Reaper mask on the side of her head approached James. In her hand was a copy of Bleach volume one. James also noticed her approach and looked at her curiously.
"Who is this?" James asked curiously.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This is Bennia Orcus, my new [Knight]" Sona said in slight embarrassment. "After contacting me during the day, she showed up at our house last night, and asked to join my peerage. But only because yours was full, James."
James could feel a bit of resentment coming off of Sona when she said that last part. However, he could not really blame her. Nobody likes being told that they are only the second option.
"He... Hello, sir." Bennia said shyly. "I'm Bennia. I'm a huge fan of yours. Could I have an autograph and if it's not too much trouble, a... Handshake?"
"Sure." James said with a smile.
Then, he reached for the manga in Bennia's hand, pulled a marker pen from his pocket, and signed the book for her. When he was done, he handed it back and extended his hand for a handshake, which Bennia accepted happily.
"Oh, I have a new [Pawn] as well." Sona said. "But I'll have to wait until after school to introduce him."
"How many pieces did he take?" Rias asked.
"Three." Sona replied.
"Doesn't that mean that your peerage is complete now?" James asked.
"That's right." Sona replied with a smile.
"And when did you have time to add him?" Rias asked.
"He was waiting at the entrance to our neightborhood this morning." Sona answered. "I had been in contact with him before that, though. The negotiations to get him to join me took much longer than I expected."