Human World, United Kingdom, Wales, Monmouthshire.
Just after leaving the reception room, James and Uther made eye contact. Then, Uther gestured down the hallway and began walking shortly afterward. Naturally, James followed him.
"So..." Uther began to speak, not really sure how to start the topic that was on his mind.
"I'm almost sure I know what you want to say, Lord Uther." James said with a smile.
"*Sigh* With the gap in power between us, it feels awkward to hear you call me, 'Lord Uther.'" Uther said with awry smile. "But since you're probably right, have you run into my son?"
"Not only your son, but your daughter as well." James replied.
"*Sigh* If possible, could you not kill them if you come into conflict with each other?" Uther asked.
James, though he did not stop walking, looked at Uther in surprise.
"You know, I thought your information network would be better." James said with a wry smile.
Hearing James' words, and seeing his expression, Uther's face paled rapidly. Then, the light in his eyes dimmed and an expression of sadness covered his face. And at that moment, Uther looked as if he had aged by a decade in less than a second.
"You're jumping to conclusions." James said, maintaining his wry smile after seeing Uther's expression. "I didn't kill them. In fact, there is no reason for us to fight anymore."
Uther's expression changed rapidly once again. Life returned to his eyes, he looked younger, and he smiled happily.
'This old man is very expressive for a Clan Head.' James thought to himself, amused by the vibrancy of Uther's facial expressions.
"Does that mean they are no longer part of the Khaos Brigade?" Uther asked in a hopeful tone.
"That's right." James replied with a nod and a smile. "For all intents and purposes, the Khaos Brigade no longer exists. Since the Hero Faction and the Old Satan Faction have both been destroyed."
"I've heard the news." Uther replied with a nod. "But I haven't heard that the whole Khaos Brigade was destroyed.
As they chatted, Uther led James toward the training field that Erza had gone to earlier.
"Well, before I finished off the last of the Hero Faction and the Old Satan Faction, they betrayed Ophis, the Khaos Brigade's backer." James said with a shrug. "Before that, though, Vali, the leader of Arthur's team had asked me to watch over her because he was expecting something like that."
"I see." Uther said. "But why would you have to look after someone as powerful as the Infinite Dragon God?"
"Because she's too powerful." James said with another shrug. "With all that power, she doesn't see anyone as a threat. Therefore, she didn't even try to defend herself when she was attacked. So, without me, she would have fallen prey to their schemes."
"I guess that makes sense." Uther said with a nod.
Just then, Uther had led James to the entrance of the training field. When James noticed, he raised an eyebrow.
"Were you hoping for a spar?" James asked with a smile.
"I've heard many stories of your skill with a sword, Lord Sataniel." Uther said with a solemn expression. "I'd like to experience it for myself, if you don't mind."
"Not at all." James replied. "I'll even try to limit my power at the intermediate-level of the ultimate-rank, the same as yours."
"Thank you." Uther said while walking over to a weapon rack. "Unfortunately, I don't have the weapon I am most familiar with. I passed it down to my son."
"I understand." James replied, materializing a training katana and sheath on his left hip.
A moment later, Uther and James stood across from each other. Uther held his sword in both hands with its tip aimed between James' eyebrows. Meanwhile, James was standing in an iaido stance.
Once they were both ready, Uther stepped forward quickly, thrusting his sword toward James' throat. In response, James simply tilted his head and neck out of the sword's path. Uther then quickly retracted his sword and slashed diagonally from James left shoulder to his right hip. Once again, James dodged the slash with little movement.
While Uther was once again retracting his sword, James swung the katana on his hip upward from Uther's right thigh toward his shoulder, without unsheathing the blade. Reacting quickly, Uther blocked the strike. However, as soon as the sheath made contact with the sword, James unsheathed the katana, aiming for Uther's chest.
With his eyes wide open, Uther leaned backward, arching his back, just fast enough to avoid the slash to the chest. Although they were both using training weapons, not only would that strike have been extremely painful, it would also have lost him the spar, had he been hit.
Releasing the sheath in his left hand, James raised his left hand to the katana's hilt while reversing the blade. Then, he slashed downward at Uther, whose balance had been disrupted by the quick dodge.
Instead of trying to right his posture, Uther chose to fall backward to the ground, once again narrowly avoiding James strike. Then, he kicked off the ground and bounded backward and away from James before taking his stance again. AAs he was once again in a proper stance, James was already rushing toward him.
This time, James led with a thrust, aimed at Uther's chest. Uther easily parried the strike downward. Then, because he was using a double edged sword, he slashed upward towards James' chin without having to adjust his grip on the sword's hilt.
James, following the momentum of his parried blade, stepped away from Uther's slash and returned one of his own. From then on, for the next five minutes, James and Uther exchanged innumerable slashes, thrusts, parries, blocks, and dodges. Throughout those five minutes, there were several times the match was almost decided. However, neither of the swordsmen were able to land a decisive blow.
As the high-speed sword fight continued, Irene and Erza had finished their heart-to-heart. After they were done, they left the reception room and made their way toward James' and Uther's auras, which were flaring somewhere in the castle. When they found them, Erza was mesmerized by the high-level swordsmanship James and Uther had put on display.
While Erza's eyes were immediately captured by the spar, Irene looked at her daughter with a smile.
'Under that serious and strict personality, it looks like she enjoys a good fight.' Irene thought to herself. 'I bet she's a bit of a troublemaker, too. Even if it's mostly unintentional.'
"You know, if you come back with us, there will be a lot of people for you to spar against." Irene said with a smile.
In Erza's ears, Irene's words sounded like the whispers of a devil, which they were. But since Erza was considering leaving the Pendragon Castle, anyway, she was very inclined to agree.
Then, while they watched the spar, Irene told Erza about all the people she could spar with at James' Estate.
'A holy demonic sword wielder, the wielder of Durandal, The wielder of Gáe Bolg, Several fist fighters and magic users, too?' Erza thought excitedly.
"On top of that, Master Scathach is in charge of everyone's training." Irene said, putting the icing on top of her persuasion.
With that, Erza's thought ground to a halt for a moment. Scathach was the idol of any girl or woman whose goal was to become a warrior.
"You mean, Scathach, the Immortal Witch?" Erza asked. "But wasn't she bound to the Land of Shadows a millennium ago?"
"Well, she is James' [Queen] now." Irene replied with a shrug and a smile. "So, what do you think? And what does that say about James? Since the only way for the geass to end was for Scathach to die."
In an instant, Erza realized that meant that James was able to defeat Scathach in combat. However, an instant later, she looked at her mother skeptically.
"Aren't you Lord Sataniel's [Queen]?" Erza asked with confusion in her tone.
"Well, James is a little special." Irene said with a smile. "He actually has two peerages under his command. I'm the [Queen] of his second peerage."
Erza had heard of the [Evil Piece] system the devils used, but from what she knew, each devil could only have one peerage. But if what her mother said were true, Erza may be able to spend enough time with Irene to make up for the 400 years she spent alone.
"If what you say is true, does that mean Lord Sataniel can still accept more into his peerage." Erza asked while she never took her eyes off the spar between James and Uther.
Hearing Erza's question, Irene smiled. By mentioning the other's in James' mansion and telling her that he has a second peerage, Ireen had been leading Erza to ask that question. Like Erza, Irene also wanted to make up for lost time with her daughter. And in her mind, the best way to do that was to spend as much time together as possible. And once again, the best way to do that was for both of them to join the same family.
'When I put it like that, it feels like I'm offering both myself and my daughter up as a combination dish.' Irene thought to herself with a slight frown.
For some reason, the term Oyakodon popped up in Irene's head. But since she did not know what that word meant, she quickly shook the thought out of her head.
Meanwhile, James and Uther's spar was reaching its climax. James, performing a side flip, avoiding another one of Uther's slashes. While he was suspended in the air, James left hand flashed toward the ground and picked up his sheath.
When James landed on his feet again, his katana was back in its sheath while his sheath was on his left hip. As Uther's next slash bore down on him, James unsheathed his katana, parrying Uther's sword away. Then, with his left hand, he swung the sheath, stopping it just before it struck Uther in the throat.
At that moment, both James and Uther froze. Then, Uther exhaled a long sigh.
"I lost." Uther said with a smile. "But I haven't had a match like that in at least a decade. Thank you, Lord Sataniel."
"No, I should be thanking you, Lord Uther." James said, removing the sheath from Uther's throat. "I rarely fight with pure swordsmanship. So, I feel as though I've improved quite a bit. Though Master would probably scold me for not using everything I have."
"Your master?" Uther asked curiously. "May I ask who that might be?"
"The Queen of Dun Scaith, Scathach." James said nonchalantly.
Uther's jaw dropped in surprise. Instead of questioning how Scathach was able to get away from the Land of Shadows, Uther closed his mouth then looked at James and smiled.
"I guess my loss is justified. Especially if you were trained by one of the greatest trainers of heroes in history." Uther said.
At that moment, Irene and Erza approached the two. When James and Uther saw the expressions the mother-daughter pair were wearing, they had different reactions. James looked at Irene questioningly, causing Irene's smile to broaden. Meanwhile, Uther sighed again, knowing that he was going to lose another promising member of the younger generation. And this time, there was really nothing he could say or do about it.
"Lord Uther." Erza said after she and Irene stopped walking. Then, she bowed her head. "I would like to leave with my mother. I believe I would be able to further my training if I went with her. Plus, we have a lot of lost time to make up for."
"When she entrusted you to me all l those years ago, she told me that she would be coming back for you someday." Uther said with a reluctant smile on his face. "So, I've been prepared for this day. Go forth, Erza. And never stop improving. You are one of the most talented swordswomen I've ever met."
"Thank you, Lord Uther." Erza said before raising her head and smiling at Uther. "I can never thank you enough for all you've done for me over these years."
"Just liv well." Uther said with a smile. "That is the best way for you to thank me."
"I need to thank you, as well, Uther." Irene said with a smile. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter. I'll find a way to repay you, trust me."
"Think nothing of it." Uther replied, waving dismissively. Then, he looked at James once again. "Lord Sataniel, is there a chance that you will see Arthur sometime in the future?"
"Yeah, I'm supposed to see him tomorrow." James replied. "Why? What's up?"
"If that's the case, could I ask you to bring someone with you when you leave?" Uther asked.