Underworld, Satan Territory, Leviathan Estate.
Having just arrived at her home after a meeting with the other Great Satans, Serafall was in a particularly good mood. She had just stopped at a store to pick up the latest issue of her favorite weekly manga magazine. To her surprise, James had released a new manga and did not tell her about it in advance.
"The last time Jay-Kun didn't tell me that he was releasing something new was Sailor Moon!" Serafall squealed excitedly. "Does this mean that Jay-Kun's new manga is another magical girl story? Has Jay-Kun finally been awakened to the truth of this world? The truth that... Cute is justice!"
As Serafall got to the end of her monologue, she struck a pose. A pose that she had been working on for the magical girl show that she had been working on for the past few months. Unfortunately, with all the happenings in the supernatural world, the progress had been slower than she liked.
"With this, maybe I'll find more inspiration for my own project." Serafall said, holding up the manga magazine as if it were a holy text. "Now, let me see the excellence I've come to expect from you, Jay-Kun."
Flipping to the first page of James' newest release, Serafall could not help but read the title allowed.
"Puella Magi Madoka Magica." Serafall read as her eyes lit up.
Then, with every panel that she read, Serafall liked what she saw more and more. Madoka's dream, the girl in the dream transferring to Madoka's school, everything she read ticked the boxes that Serafall enjoyed the most. Unfortunately, the chapter ended before the story could really get started.
Since from James' memories, the anime of Puella Magi Madoka Magica was only twelve episodes long, James found a way to cut each episode into three chapters, as of now. There was no saying that some episodes would be cut into more or fewer chapters as the series went on. Either way, he knew that this series would throw all the magical girl fans for a loop.
Shortly after Serafall finished reading the chapter, while she was basking in the afterglow, a communication magic circle appeared next to her right ear. Glancing at the magic circle, she was surprised to see Grayfia's mark on it.
"Grayfia-Chan?" Serafall asked rhetorically. "I wonder if something is wrong."
Injecting a bit of demonic power into the magic circle, Serafall answered the call energetically.
"Grayfia-Chan, what's up?" Serafall asked in a cheerful tone. "Is there something Levia-Tan can do for you?"
"{Lady Leviathan, good afternoon.}" Grayfia replied politely. "{I have not called to ask anything of you. Rather I called to introduce you to someone. Someone wishing to join a peerage.}"
"Oh..." Serafall's interest dimmed immediately. "I guess I'll meet this person, but if they don't match my vision, there's nothing I can do about that."
"{I understand.}" Grayfia replied calmly, having expected that response. "{Then, I'll inform lord Shuzen of your intention to meet."
"Hold on." Serafall stopped Grayfia while trying to remember where she heard that name. "Lord Shuzen? As in the head of the Shuzen Clan of vampires?"
"{That is correct.}" Grayfia replied.
"He might be a good fit." Serafall mumbled. Then, with a big smile on her face, she continued. "I'll meet him as soon as I can. Serafall said. He's at Jay-Kun's house in the Human World, right?"
Heaven, Third Heaven.
Cu Chulainn who was sprinting towards Apophis before the teleportation occurred, did not slow down in the slightest once the teleportation was completed. And after noticing that Apophis was confused and caught off guard by the teleportation, he realized that was a good decision.
By the time Apophis noticed Cu Chulainn's approach, Cu Chulainn had already leapt into the air, roughly at Apophis eye level. Then, he thrust his spear at the Evil Dragon's eye on his forehead. Reacting quickly to the incoming thrust, Apophis tilted his head, causing the spear to miss his eye. However, the spear coated with Cu Chulainn's demonic energy tore a gash in the black scales on Apophis' forehead, drawing blood.
"*Roar!*" Apophis roared due to the pain.
Before Cu Chulainn could find his footing after he landed, a black blur headed for him. Bracing himself and bringing his spear in front of him to defend, Cu Chulainn was smashed away and sent flying.
"Ugh." Cu Chulainn groaned due to the force of the impact.
Landing on the clouds and sliding backward, leaving two trenches in the cloud layer, Cu Chulainn could feel that his arms had gone numb from the force of the impact. Luckily, his spear was completely undamaged.
While assessing the state of his body after defending from that attack, Cu Chulainn looked up to see Apophis tail returning to its place behind the Evil Dragon.
"A tail whip, huh?" Cu Chulainn muttered to himself. "If master had seen that I forgot about that, I'd be in trouble."
As he thought about the potential punishment he would have to endure, Cu Chulainn shuddered for a moment. Then, he tightened his grip on his spear and took his battle stance. A moment later, he shot forward to engage Apophis again.
This time, Apophis attention was on Cu Chulainn from the start, so he would not be caught off guard once again. Instead of waiting for Cu Chulainn to approach, the gems along Apophis body began to glow more intensely with their silver light. Then, shadows began to spread in all directions from Apophis. With Apophis as the center, a shadowy dome was created, engulfing Cu Chulainn.
"Damn." Cu Chulainn said as he flared his demonic energy. "I didn't know he could engulf the area this fast. He wasn't nearly this fast when he fought James in the Underworld."
"Hehehe." A creepy laugh that seemed to originate from everywhere sounded out through the domain of shadows. Then, Apophis voice could be clearly heard in the same fashion. "Why would I go all out, when I was not the primary target of that monster."
"Even though James may be a monster, but to leave your comrade out to dry like that is a pretty dick move, isn't it?" Cu Chulainn asked while extending his presence detection.
Not only was Cu Chulainn extending his presence detection, a pair of runes were cast on his eyes, letting him partially see through the shadows Apophis produced.
"My comrade?" Apophis' voice sounded from every direction again. "Grendel was a crass and foolish brute. He's better off dead."
"Damn, with friends like you, who needs... Ugh!" Cu Chulainn began to reply before he was interrupted and sent flying across the shadowy domain.
'Damn it, as soon as I found him, he sent me flying.' Cu Chulainn thought as he adjusted himself in the air. 'Was it coincidence or was that on purpose. I'll have to find out.'
Because of the attack, Cu Chulainn's concentration was disturbed slightly. Luckily, his field of presence detection was not disrupted by too much. So, a moment later, Cu Chulainn found Apophis once again. And just as he had, he sensed a long tail lashing out at him.
This time, with more time to react, Cu Chulainn raised Gáe Bolg up high. Then, he swung it down with as much force as he could muster.
*Swish!*
*Bang!*
"*Roar!*"
Although he was able to strike Apophis' tail, Cu Chulainn was also sent flying once again. Also, unlike last time, Cu Chulainn took significantly more damage than he would have if he had just defended. He could feel that at least three of his ribs had cracked. Though they weren't enough to hinder his ability to fight, the pain was definitely uncomfortable.
"Damn, I miss judged the distance." Cu Chulainn muttered. "I thought I would have cut his tail clean off. Instead, it's still dangling. *Sigh* Master is gonna put me through hell."
Instead of waiting for Apophis to make his next move, Cu Chulainn was already rushing forward in the direction where the roar came from. He could tell that Apophis had not moved from his location after they were both hurt.
"You damn brute!" Apophis shouted. "Your fighting style has no finesse. Just brute force like that fool Grendel."
"Are you stupid, or just pretending to be that way?" Cu Chulainn shouted as he leapt into the air with his spear poised to thrust once again. "You think intricate spearmanship would work on a son of a bitch as big as you?"
Like last time, Cu Chulainn aimed at Apophis central eye. And like last time, Apophis tilted his head out of the way of his strike. Unlike last time, however, Cu Chulainn spread his devil wings. In a burst of speed, Cu Chulainn appeared under Apophis' chin and thrust his spear upward. Once again, Apophis roared. However, instead of from pain, this roar came about due to irritation.
"Aww, what's wrong Apophis?" Cu Chulainn said in a mocking tone while striking Apophis from several different angles. "Is that little devil bullying you?"
"I'll kill you!" Apophis roared out.
With Apophis angry bellows, he began concentrating more of his aura around him. As he did, Cu Chulainn realized that the shadows in that area were becoming corrosive. With that discovery, Cu Chulainn was quick to distance himself from the enraged dragon.
"It took so much effort to get close." Cu Chulainn said disappointedly. "Now I have to fight my way through... No, I guess I'll use that..."
Beginning to flourish his spear like the finest of marching band majorettes, Cu Chulainn eventually stopped and took a stance. Then, he leapt into the air and charged his spear with as much demonic energy as he could.
"[Gáe Bolg: Soaring Spear that Strikes with Death]." Cu Chulainn said calmly.
Then, He threw the spear as hard as he could. An instant later, the spear entered the highly corrosive region around Apophis... And pierced through it without issue.
"What? How is this..." Apophis muttered in shock as he saw the flying spear drawing near.
*Boom!*
Once the spear made contact with Apophis neck, the demonic energy Cu Chulainn charged into the spear detonated. The explosion engulfed most of Apophis' body, blew away the shadow domain, and drowned out the screams of pain. When the explosion died down, Gáe Bolg spun back towards Cu Chulainn and he caught it easily.
After securing his spear, Cu Chulainn looked upon Apophis' bloody and battered form. Many of his scales were cracked or torn off all together. Two of his three eyes were closed. There was a large puddle of blood underneath Apophis' large form. And the most telling thing about the power of the attack, there was a large hole in the side of Apophis neck where the spear made contact.
"Tch!" Cu Chulainn clicked his tongue when he saw the hole in Apophis' neck. "I missed all three times I aimed at that third eye."
"If that is the case, we shall intensify your training until you are able to miss no more." Scathach's voice rang out from directly behind Cu Chulainn. "Now, hurry and finish your battle."
Calming his racing heartbeat, Cu Chulainn approached Apophis. Meanwhile, Apophis, with his one working eye, stared at Cu Chulainn with hatred. At the same time, he had no intention of begging for his life. In fact, he found something beautiful about a hero defeating the evil dragon.
"Well, it was fun." Cu Chulainn said as he dropped into a stance that was best for thrusting. "[Gáe Bolg: Barbed Spear That Pierces with Death.]"
When the name of the technique was invoked, the magic power in the air froze. Then, Cu Chulainn thrust forward. In the next instant, Gáe Bolg was thrust into Apophis heart. At the same time, nearly all of the remaining demonic energy Cu Chulainn had in reserve was used.
"*Pant* *Pant* Using both of those attacks in succession is a real strain, even now that I'm at the minor god-rank." Cu Chulainn said through ragged breaths as he propped himself up using his spear.
"If your energy control was more precise, it would not put such a strain on you." Scathach said calmly, approaching Cu Chulainn once again. "And if your ribs were not broken, you would not have had to divert so much energy in order to continue fighting."
"Yes, Master." Cu Chulainn replied with his head bowed.
"Now, let us return to the others." Scathach said as she turned toward the battle with the mass-produced Evil Dragons. "Although the others should have no issue, this event will be concluded much faster should we offer our assistance."