Dimensional Gap, Temporary Battlefield.
"I'll admit, you're faster than I expected, too." James said while shaking his arms with a smile on his face. "But not fast enough that I can't handle it. You did catch me off guard a bit, though. Master's gonna put me through hell for that."
Hearing James' tone, Sirzechs involuntarily frowned. Like James said, he really did expect James to go down with that one punch. However, he did not waste too much time thinking about it. Instead, he vanished from his spot again and reappeared on James' left. Then, he threw another punch at full strength.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." James said while shaking his head slightly. At the same time, he coated his left hand in demonic energy and draconic aura and batted Sirzechs' punch away. "I told you you're not fast enough that I can't keep up."
When Sirzechs' punch was deflected, a wave of the [Power of Destruction] shot from his fist, causing a large ditch to form on the ground to the right of James. However, before James could pull his fist back, James hands and feet lit up with flames.
"[Dragon Slayer Secret Art: The Dragon Slumbers Beneath the Falling Cherry Blossoms." James said as he began an onslaught of blows.
First, he snapped his left arm back, flinging his elbow in to Sirzechs' face. Then, James followed up with a right knee to the gut, a right hook to the jaw, a left uppercut to the chin, shooting Sirzechs up into the air before reappearing above him to deliver an axe kick to the top of the head.
[Penetrate!]
During James entire assault, Sirzechs was also barraged by the petal-shaped blades which were coated in the flames of James' [Dragon Slayer Magic]. And to finish off the combo, James' axe kick had the [Penetrate] effect tacked onto it.
*Boom!*
Sirzechs was once again shot down into the ground, causing a cloud of dust to form at the impact point.
"Hmm... I'm definitely still faster, but I'm still not hitting hard enough." James muttered to himself while watching for any movement in the cloud. Then, at a volume that he was certain Sirzechs would be able to hear, James continued. "Oh well, I guess now is as good a time as any to test out [Dragon Force]."
Just as James thought, Sirzechs heard what he said. And when he did, his anger shot through the roof. At the same time, James reconstituted Carnage and sheathed it as the dust cloud was blown away.
"Impudence!" Sirzechs shouted. "You would dare to humiliate me by treating this duel as a platform to test a new skill? It would seem I was too lenient in thinking that I shouldn't hurt you too badly. You need to be taught your place."
'Too easy.' James thought with a sneer. 'Just suggesting that I'm looking down on him is more than enough to get him to fly off the handle. Come on Sirzechs, you're just making this way too easy.'
"[Twin Fangs of the Inferno Dragon]." James said quietly as he dropped into an iaido stance and swiftly drew both blades, with Sixth Sense held in his left hand in a reverse grip.
Just as the two blades left their sheaths, James forehead was covered in dragon scale shaped markings while his draconic aura exploded. At the same time, Sirzechs appeared in their path with his hand reeled back. However, before he could throw the punch, he was slashed across the chest, twice.
"[Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Claws and Fangs of the Inferno Dragon]." James muttered while his back was turned toward Sirzechs after the sword drawing technique.
Then, James whipped his fire covered right heel across Sirzechs' face, following up with an upward slash with A flame covered Sixth Sense that was still held in a reverse grip. Then, before the slash landed...
[Penetrate!]
"Gah~~~!" Sirzechs shouted in pain and rage.
However, even with Sirzechs' shouts and attempts to counterattack, James continued his assault with a flurry of sword strikes, kicks, elbow strikes, and knee strikes with [Boosts!] and [Penetrates] mixed in here and there, while Sirzechs failed counterattacks devastated the battlefield.
Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.
"Is that [Dragon Slayer Magic]?" Ajuka asked with a curious expression on his face. "I thought that art had been lost centuries ago, after the Dragon Riots."
"Oh, I remembered that time." Serafall said with a smile. "There were a lot of talented humans back then. It's too bad most of them turned into dragons before getting killed by that black one... What was his name again?"
"Acnologia." Falbium said, answering Serafall's question.
"That's right, Acnologia." Serafall said while nodding her head. "He was a [Dragon Slayer Mage] that turned into a dragon and slaughtered most of the dragons back then."
"Well, he slaughtered most of the dragons who could be bothered to participate in that conflict, anyway." Ajuka said. "Most of the strongest dragons of that time couldn't be bothered."
"On top of that, he got himself killed when he ran into Ophis, the Ouroboros Dragon, in his bid to eliminate all dragons." Grayfia said as she refilled Serafall's tea cup.
"Either way, this isn't as interesting as I thought it would be." Falbium said. "*Yawn* Sirzechs can't even put up a fight. He's being beaten like a rag doll."
"And James has yet to use the [Tyrant Dragon Domination Drive] that was mentioned in the reports." Ajuka added. "But what are those scale shaped markings on his forehead? Do any of you know?"
Making eye contact with the other three in the meeting room, Ajuka could not help but be disappointed when he saw them all shaking their heads.
'Well, I guess I'll just have to ask James about it later.' Ajuka thought to himself as he focused on the monitor once again.
Human World, Japan, Kyoto, Youkai-Sub Dimension.
"Mom, Otou-San is winning.!" Kunou said excitedly as her eyes were glued to the TV.
"Yes, I can see that." Yasaka replied with a smile. "It looks like he's much stronger than me now."
"Is that Sirzechs guy really that strong?" Kunou asked. "I know he's the current Lucifer in the Underworld, and Rias-Nee-San's brother. I also heard that he's supposed to be the strongest devil in history. But, I mean, Otou-San makes it look so easy."
"He really is that strong." Yasaka replied. "I would have probably lost before he even took on his true form."
Hearing that, Kunou opened her eyes wide. She may not know exactly how strong her mother is due to the difference in their power levels, but she has heard many tales from the guards and other Youkai clan heads over the years.
At the same time, Yasaka giggled at Kunou's exaggerated reaction. Even though she'll be starting middle school next year, her surprised expression was absolutely adorable.
'Still, how did James get us access to this fight?' Yasaka thought as she paid attention to the beating of a life time Sirzechs was getting on the TV. 'I'm sure that the Underworld wouldn't want anyone to see... This.'
Human World, Japan, Kuoh.
In the living room, Leona was going crazy as James laid into Sirzechs. In fact, she was so loud that most of the other viewers were giving her annoyed glances by now.
"Honey, could you calm down." Cassiel asked in an uncertain tone. "You're bothering everyone else."
Unfortunately, Leona could not even be bothered to pretend that she was listening to what Cassiel had to say. She was too busy rooting for her baby, and nothing was going to stop her. Or so she thought.
*Bang!*
"Be silent." Scathach said sternly after hitting Leona in the head with the butt of her spear. "There is no reason to be so excited, or did you expect this Scathach's disciple to be on the losing end of this duel?"
"Ow! Scatti~…" Leona whined.
"I said be silent." Scathach repeated in an even sterner tone.
With that, Leona fell silent with tears in her eyes. While everyone else in the room gave Scathach grateful looks.
Underworld, Gremory Territory, Gremory Estate.
At the same time, the Gremory Couple and the Sitri couple were sitting in the living room of the Gremory Estate watching the duel as well.
"It looks like we all either underestimated James or overestimated Sirzechs." Zeoticus said.
"It's probably the former." Dante said, taking a sip of wine. "No one expected him to break through to the major god-rank before the duel. On top of that, no one trained by Master Scathach would be weak, right?"
"Not to mention, it's likely that Sirzechs was not taking James seriously." Rhea added. "He's been the strongest for a long time. So, that should be normal."
"*Sigh* No it shouldn't." Venelana said in an exasperated tone. "I know that James feat of pushing Crom Cruach back was in the report about Euclid's capture. I wouldn't be surprised if Sirzechs simply dismissed that fact."
"*Sigh* Unfortunately, you're probably right about that." Rhea agreed with a sigh of her own.
"Sirzechs would never do that." Zeoticus said with a slight frown on his face.
"If you only knew what your son was capable of." Venelana said, before returning her focus to the TV.
Dimensional Gap, Temporary Battlefield.
After a few minutes of attacking Sirzechs, James combo had yet to be broken and was nearing three thousand hits. On top of that, in order to make Sirzechs remember the consequence of his actions with every fiber of his being, James started off striking just hard enough that Sirzechs would feel pain. However, over time, he had been adding more force to all of his strikes. So, by now, under the condensed form of the [Power of Destruction], Sirzechs' state was beyond terrible.
'He hasn't shouted for a while.' James thought to himself as he launched Sirzechs into the sky again. 'Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to end it.'
In the next instant, James appeared above Sirzechs. Then, he inhaled a large breath and a magic circle appeared in front of his mouth.
"[Inferno Dragon's Roar]." James said quietly before spewing out a column of flames onto Sirzechs that pushed him back towards the ground.
*Boom!*
This time, when Sirzechs slammed into the ground, there was no dust cloud. Instead, his surroundings were covered in flames. If one looked carefully, they would be able to see the silhouette of a man lying in the middle of those flames. Surprisingly, Sirzechs had dropped his true form transformation, and returned to his normal state.
A moment later, James landed just outside the sea of flames surrounding Sirzechs. Then, he sheathed Sixth Sense. With Carnage in his right hand, he walked slowly through the flames towards the immobile Sirzechs. After what seemed like ages to Sirzechs, James arrived next to him and placed his blade on Sirzechs' neck.
"Do you yield?" James asked coldly. Though he could feel that his anger had lessened significantly. "Oh, and if you're unconvinced, you should bear in mind that I didn't have to use my concept or my [Tyrant Dragon Domination Drive] to defeat you."
The only reason James asked that question and spoke of Sirzechs' situation, considering that Sirzechs did not move, in the slightest, while he approached was simple. Sirzechs was staring at him with a mix of anger, unwillingness, and regret in his eyes. However, he knew that the regret he felt was not for his actions of humiliating him. Instead, it was for not taking him seriously at the beginning of this fight.
Not only James, but everyone who knew Sirzechs well enough could tell. They could all see the same emotions in Sirzechs' eyes through the broadcast.
After a few moments with no response, James pressed the blade of his sword down a little harder on Sirzechs' neck.
"*Sigh* It looks like Big Bro Sirzechs really is gone." James muttered in a sad tone with an expression to match. A moment later, however, James expression hardened, and he continued. "Sirzechs, don't make me kill you. The Underworld doesn't need to lose one of its pillars for this."
Around a minute later, just as James was about to shake his head and walk away because of Sirzechs' stubbornness, Sirzechs finally opened his mouth.
"I... Yield..." Sirzechs said in a pained, resigned tone.
Hearing that, James removed his blade from Sirzechs neck, gave him one last look, then he turned and walked away. At the same time, the broadcast of the duel ended for the public, though the Satans and the participants families could still see the battlefield.
While James walked, with his back to Sirzechs, Sirzechs, with fury in his eyes, raised his hand and pointed his index finger at James. Then, he gathered the last of his demonic energy, in the form of the [Power of Destruction], on it. However, after holding that position for several seconds, Sirzechs dispersed the gathered energy and dropped his hand back to the ground while exhaling an exasperated sigh.
"You made the right decision, Sirzechs." James said from the distance. "Although I wouldn't have killed you, if you fired that attack, you would have lost a lot more than you gained."
Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.
When James officially won the duel and began to walk away from Sirzechs, the Satans and Grayfia were prepared to make their way to the battlefield and take care of whatever cleanup was necessary, before removing the battlefield from the Dimensional Gap. However, they froze when they saw that Sirzechs was aiming an attack at James from behind.
Luckily, nothing came of it, and Sirzechs lowered his hand on his own. This caused the Satans to exhale a sigh of relief. Grayfia, on the other hand, shook her head, even more disappointed than before.
'Lady Venelana was right.' Grayfia thought to herself. 'I really do need to separate myself from him. I don't want all our time together, all the memories we share, to be tainted any more than it already is.'