Underworld, Grigori Territory, Grigori Headquarters.
At about the same time that Genkai arrived at the Alaverus Estate in the Human World with her apprentice, Yusuke, Azazel was finishing up a bit of the research he was looking forward to starting after the Hero Faction attacked the devils' capital city.
In the examination room of his private laboratory, Leonardo, the wielder of [Annihilation Maker] was lying on an examination table, unconscious after a round of experimentation. While the child lay there, Azazel read over the results of his latest experiment.
"Wow, that Cao Cao was quite the piece of work." Azazel said with the documents detailintg the result of his latest experiment. "Although he was able to raise this kid's power from intermediate-level; low-rank to peak-middle rank in less than two months, he basically dried up this kid's lifespan."
After saying that, Azazel dropped the document on his desk. Then, he picked up another. This one detailing the life of Leonardo.
"And this kid, he never had it easy." Azazel said, reading the new document. "His parents were killed by one of Cao Cao's goons after they refused to hand him over. Then, after kidnapping the newly orphaned boy, he was subjected to intense torture and brainwashing until he was completely loyal. *Sigh* Sometimes humans can be more evil than any of us dark races."
Because of how far gone Leonardo's mind was after the treatment he received from the Hero Faction, this information did not come from him directly. Instead, it came from one of the few members of the Hero Faction that had been captured by the guards stationed in Lilith.
"*Sigh* The real question, however, is what do we do with the kid now?" Azazel said, looking at the young boy on the examination table with pity. "Even if we erased the memories of the torture and the loss of his parents, he only has a few months to half a year left to live."
Once again, Azazel sighed. Even though he was considered to be the most evil of all the angels who fell, he felt sorry for the boy. At that moment, though, he had an epiphany.
"The Phenex girl should have a set of [Evil Pieces], right?" Azazel said with a smile. "If she were to accept him into her peerage, that would kill more than one bird with a single stone."
Just as Azazel said, adding Leonardo to a peerage would serve several purposes. First, the boy would live for a much longer time. Second, it would ensure [Annihilation Maker] would be on the side of the alliance for the duration of that much longer life. And third...
"Hahaha!" Azazel began to laugh while he thought of the last reason why having Leonardo reincarnated into a devil would be such a good thing. "I'll have all the time in the world to continue my research of the [Annihilation Maker]! I really am a genius."
Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.
While Azazel was laughing hysterically and praising himself for his genius, the Four Great Satans were once again meeting to discuss the most pressing matters in the Underworld.
"Damn that Indra!" Serafall shouted, her usual childish demeanor nowhere to be seen. "And damn those lazy bastards on the Council."
"I can understand why you're so upset with Indra." Ajuka said with a bit of bewilderment in his tone. "But what did the Council do?"
"Those jerks decided that they were tired of dealing with that man child's demands and requests, so they forwarded them all to me. You'd think he would get tired of being rejected by now. It's obvious we're not going to hand over Jay-Kun."
"I don't envy... *Yawn*… you." Falbium said in a more lethargic than normal tone.
"How is it possible that you sound lazier than usual?" Serafall asked, her angry tone completely gone, replaced by one of curiosity.
"Super Smash Bros." Falbium said. "I started playing and lost track of my naptime."
"*Sigh* That game really does ruin lives." Sirzechs said, shaking his head in pity. "Anyway, I told you that killing Cao Cao was a bad move. James may have sparked a future war."
Hearing that, Ajuka, Serafall, and Falbium all turned toward Sirzechs with blank expressions on their faces. Then, Serafall and Falbium turned away as if Sirzechs had not said anything at all.
"*Sigh* Sirzechs, I know you're still sour about what James said to you that day." Ajuka said. "Instead of being upset about it, maybe you should think about why he would say that in the first place."
"he's only a child, what could he possibly know?" Sirzechs replied, refusing to acknowledge that he handled the old members of the Devil Council incorrectly.
"*Yawn* The pot sure likes to call the kettle black." Falbium said. "You did something much worse than what James did when he killed that Cao Cao brat. Charging into the domain of one of another pantheon's chief god-ranked combatants like you did was beyond reckless."
Knowing what Falbium said was correct, Sirzechs decided to remain silent. Even he knew what James did was completely justified. He also knew that Indra would never start a war with the devils when he had Shiva to deal with in his own pantheon. But his pride would not allow him to just let go of what James said to him in front of his sister and wife.
'*Sigh* Grayfia still isn't speaking to me.' Sirzechs thought to himself. 'If I don't do something about the way I'm acting, I'm going to lose her.'
Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
Currently, all those who were present for the rooftop grill part, along with Genkai and Yusuke, were in the basement training room of James' mansion. While most of the people were standing or sitting outside of the sparring area, James and Tatsuya were stretching and/or warming up for their spar.
By now, Scathach and Genkai had come to an agreement on their pact. For the next three months, Genkai and Yusuke would live in the Alaverus Estate. Then, when Scathach was training the residents of the mansion, Yusuke would join their training. And when they were not around, Genkai would have free reign over the mansion's training facilities to use for Yusuke's training.
"Now, dimwit." Genkai said, getting Yusuke's attention. "I suggest you pay attention. This is what you could become if you work hard enough."
"Ha, if that guy didn't have his sword, there's no way he would have caught me off-guard like that."
*Smack!*
As soon as Yusuke's words finished, Genkai smacked him upside the head.
"I told you to pay attention, you dimwit." Genkai said angrily. "So, you better damn well pay attention."
"Fine, I get it, you old hag." Yusuke said, rubbing the back of his head where Genkai struck him.
"Are both of you ready?" Scathach asked when she noticed that James and Tatsuya were done with their warmups.
Both boys nodded to Scathach's question. Then, Scathach raised her right hand above her head.
"Then, begin!" Scathach exclaimed as she swung her hand down.
As soon as the signal to begin was given, Tatsuya channeled his magic power into the soles of his feet and pushed off towards James. Then, in a blur, he appeared in front of James with his left hand shooting toward James' throat. Reacting quickly, James slapped Tatsuya's arm upward and stepped in toward Tatsuya's unprotected left side. However, reacting just as quickly, Tatsuya raised his left knee.
Expecting this counter attack, James slammed his right palm down onto Tatsuya's knee, stopping its momentum. Then, James dropped down and attempted to sweep the leg that Tatsuya was balanced on, before he could lower his left leg. However, Tatsuya quickly hopped over James' incoming leg. Then, while in midair, he swung his right leg at the side of James' head.
Instead of trying to block the incoming kick, James threw himself flat on his back. Then, when Tatsuya's foot passed, James pressed his hands on the floor on either side of his head and hopped up, feet first.
Unable to change positions midair, Tatsuya was forced to take the kicks aimed at his back and hip.
"Ugh." Tatsuya grunted as he was pushed away while the places that James' kicked throbbed with dull pain.
However, before he could take his stance once again after landing, James was already in range to strike once again. Starting with a left jab, Tatsuya tilted his head to avoid. James then stepped in further and transitioned from a punch to an elbow strike with his left elbow. Quickly, Tatsuya raised his right arm and blocked the blow. However, he was then left open to the knee that James raised.
"Ugh." Once again, Tatsuya grunted after taking one of James' blows.
However, without stopping due to the pain, Tatsuya lowered his right arm and wrapped it around James' thigh. At the same time, he grabbed James' left wrist with his own left hand. After that, he raised James' whole body and slammed him to the floor.
"Gah!" James cried as the air was forced out of his lungs.
Before he could even begin to pant from the feeling of breathlessness, James swung his right elbow and struck Tatsuya across the face. Though Tatsuya did not have the time to try anything, yet, James expected someone hailed as a genius in close quarters combat to have a follow-up planned.
With that elbow strike, Tatsuya involuntarily loosened his grip on James wrist. Forcing his wrist free from the loosened hold, James created a little more distance between Tatsuya and himself, though Tatsuya still had a firm grip on James leg.
As James and Tatsuya struggled to gain the advantage, the rest of the group watched them with interest.
"This is just a spar, right?" issei asked. "I don't think Senpai has ever hit me that hard with his elbow before."
"There are two reasons for that." Sona replied to Issei's question. "First, you've never been able to make James take you seriously. Second, He usually isn't restricted when he spars with you. So, if he swung at you with that kinda force, you'd probably lose your head."
"What do you mean?" Issei asked in confusion.
Not only Issei, but many of the devils from Rias' peerage were also confused. They had never seen James fight with Scathach's suppressing runes on. In fact, most of them never even knew that he wore them most of the time before summer break.
"Before the match began, I saw Master Scathach putting runic sentences on James." Sona continued. "If I'm not mistaken, they are meant to lower James physical abilities so that they would be similar to Tatsuya's."
"Onii-Sama doesn't need a handicap like that." Miyuki said, after hearing Sona's explanation.
"If this were an all-out fight to the death, that might be true." Sona said while adjusting her glasses.
'Against any minor god-rank beings other than James and Master Scathach, that is.' Sona thought to herself as she spoke.
"However, as this is a simple test of skill in hand-to-hand combat, there is no way that Tatsuya, who is at the ultimate-rank, could keep up with James physical prowess." Sona continued.
Although she did not want to admit it, Miyuki knew what Sona said was correct. Though she had absolute faith in her brother, she knew that Tatsuya could not compete physically with a minor god-rank being. So, instead of arguing further, she decided to keep her mouth shut and watch the fight.
Eventually, James was able to separate himself from Tatsuya and bring the fight back to an upright faceoff.
'Damn, I didn't think he would be so good on the ground.' James thought as he sized up Tatsuya once again. 'That's what I get for underestimating my opponent. I'm too used to handling my peers with no issue. That's probably why Master sealed my physical abilities before we started. She probably noticed that I was getting a bit arrogant.'
After that thought, James expression changed slightly. And when they saw that, those who usually trained with him noticed immediately.
"Well, this fight will be ending soon." Moka said with a smile.
"Why would you say that?" Evangeline asked.
Like Evangeline, the rest of the vampires and Irene were curious to hear the answer to that question.
"Because James is finally taking this seriously." Moka replied. "He's never been in a fight with someone that is his equal in skill. Hell, he trained most of the younger devils here before Master Scathach joined his peerage."
"He's only eighteen, right?" Issa asked with some amazement in his tone.
"That's right." Moka replied with a nod. "From the moment he saved me four years ago, he's been training me in Muay Thai. Infact, I wouldn't be surprised if you were no longer a match for me in hand-to-hand combat, Sister Akua."
"Hmph. We'll have to see if you can back up your words." Akua said, a little excited to see how much her little sister had grown.
Before they could continue, however, James rushed toward Tatsuya. Then, when he was in range, James threw a high kick with his left leg that Tatsuya blocked. However, expecting the block, james slammed his foot down, stepping on Tatsuya's right foot. As Tatsuya winced from the pain, James followed up with a jab, straight, left hook to the body, right elbow to the jaw, a right knee to the gut, and an axe handle smash to Tatsuya's back after he doubled over from the knee strike.
Not only Tatsuya, but none of the spectators, other than Scathach, were expecting James to turn it up like he had just done.
*Bang!*
After the smash on his back, Tatsuya was slammed into the floor. Then, James quickly pressed a knee into Tatsuya's back and positioned his hands to break his neck. At that point, Scathach interrupted.
"That's enough." Scathach said calmly. "The winner is James."
Immediately, James released Tatsuya and stood, removing his knee from Tatsuya's back. Then, he reached out and offered Tatsuya his hand.
"That was a good match, you alright?" James asked.
"I'm fine." Tatsuya replied, a bit frustrated that he lost. However, he still grabbed James outstretched hand. "I won't lose next time, though."
"I look forward to our next match." James replied with a smile.