Underworld, Satan Territory, Capital City, Lilith.
"I wanna watch Jay-Kun fight in the tournament!" Serafall shouted as she threw her pen at the nearest wall.
As previously stated, to follow James to the Dark Martial Arts Tournament, a lot of the girls and women that he knew played Mario Kart for the chance to follow him. Naturally, Serafall was part of that little competition. In fact, she had won.
Excited to spend time with James in the Human World, Serafall would have traveled to Hanging Neck Island with Erza who was the runner up in the competition. Unfortunately, Sirzechs and Ajuka caught wind of Serafall's plan to ditch her work. So, they teleported to her estate in the Underworld and put an end to her ambitions.
How did they stop the stubborn Serafall from going through with her plan behind their backs? One might ask. The answer was quite simple, and quite dastardly, in Serafall's opinion. They held her manga, anime, and light novel collection hostage.
"You know we can't allow that, Sera." Sirzechs said, pulling the pen that serafall had thrown, out of the wall it was lodged in. "The four of us need to be on standby in case Rizevim does anything to attack the Underworld."
"You're a meanie, Sirzechs-Chan." Serafall pouted with her arms crossed under her breasts. "With you and Ajuka-Chan here, there's nothing to worry about. You're just jealous I was going out to have fun."
"How much fun could you have watching demons no higher than high-rank beings fight in a tournament?" Ajuka asked in genuine curiosity.
"It's not the fights that would be fun." Serafall said, holding up her right index finger as if she were going to teach Ajuka a great life lesson. "The fun part would be watching James mess with those demons."
"Are you... *Yawn* Serious?" Falbium asked in his usual sleepy tone. "Are you saying that you wanted to skip your work just so you could watch James piss people off?"
"Uh huh." serafall replied with a nod and a smile.
Before the conversation could continue, however, a video communication magic circle appeared in the middle of the table the Satans were meeting around. Based on the symbols, the magic circle belonged to Azazel. So, Sirzechs poured some of his demonic power into the circle. A moment later, an image of Azazel, from the chest up, appeared in the middle of the Satans' meeting room.
"Azazel, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Sirzechs asked.
"We found him." Azazel said, not giving any context for his response.
Though there was no context, the four Satans' expressions sharpened in an instant.
"Where is he?" Ajuka asked in a solemn tone.
"I doubt you'll believe me, but he's on Hanging Neck Island." Azazel said with a grin on his face.
Hearing that, the four Satans' expressions changed once again. Instead of sharp expressions that were ready to spring into action at any time, now they were expressions filled with confusion and disbelief.
"Are you serious, Azazel-Chan?" Serafall asked.
"I told you, you wouldn't believe it." Azazel said with awry smile. "But if the Information Slash/Dog Team was able to collect is correct, he should be hiding on the island, just waiting for the tournament to end... Or to interrupt it in a grand fashion."
"The latter seems more probable." Ajuka said, finally snapping back to his senses. "But wouldn't he be aware that James is there right now?"
"That... I can't be sure about." Ajuka said with a shrug. "But knowing where he is, is like half the battle, right? I think that was a message they used to use in some cartoon from the 90's."
"Yeah, it was an American cartoon that glorified the life of soldiers." Serafall added. "I thought the show was fun, even if each episode was just a really long toy commercial."
"Stay focused on the topic." Sirzechs said. Then, he looked at Azazel and asked his next question. "Do we have any idea where Acnologia and Gilgamesh are at the moment?"
"We're not sure where Acnologia is." Azazel replied. "But we know that Gilgamesh is currently in Japan. We expect him to attack Kuoh when Rizevim starts to move."
"No doubt he intends to become a distraction so Rizevim can act unhindered." Ajuka said.
"Wait!" Serafall said, holding up her hand like a student in class.
"What is it, Sera?" Sirzechs asked.
"Why is Rizevim on Hanging Neck Island?" Serafall asked, tilting her head to the side cutely.
With that question, the room fell silent for a moment. Sirzechs, Ajuka, and Azazel could not help but look at each other awkwardly in the duration.
"And do you think that Gilgamesh will be the only distraction element while Rizevim does what he's planning to do on Hanging Neck Island?" serafall asked again, tilting her head in the other direction.
"*Sigh* I'll have Vali an Tobio gather as much information as they can, as quickly as they can." Azazel said before ending the communication magic.
"We should probably send out our own feelers, too." Ajuka said. "I doubt it will be long before James encounters Rizevim on Hanging Neck Island."
"Right." Sirzechs replied with a nod.
Human World, Hanging Neck Island.
Meanwhile, the Dark Martial Arts Tournament's first match of the third round continued. Entering the ring from Team Mashou's side of the ring was the largest cloaked man of the three remaining members of their team.
"I'll take this one." James said, after noticing who was stepping into the ring.
Without wasting time or waiting for anyone to object, James hopped up onto the ring and casually strolled toward the center of the ring. Then, when James arrived at his starting location, his opponent pulled off his cloak like the other members of Team Mashou had done before.
Under the cloak was a tall dark skinned demon with scars all over his upper body and face. He wore his black hair in a crew cut. On his body, he wore an olive green loincloth with a red belt. And other than that, he wore nothing else.
"Hmm... You're not human." the dark skinned demon said while observing James. "What are you exactly?"
"Ever heard of a devil?" James asked with a smile.
"Oh, so you're one of those soft-hearted imitations of demons, huh?" The demon said with a smile. "Not that it matters, either way you're going to die here."
"Wow, those are pretty big words for the weakest member of your team, aren't they?" James asked, maintaining his smile.
"Just wait, I'll show you which one of us is weak." The demon barked back.
"In the third match of the round, we have Bakken from Team Mashou." Kuto said, gesturing toward the tall dark skinned demon. Then, she gestured towards James and continued her introduction. "And from Team Urameshi we have J."
Like always, Team Urameshi's opponent received quite the ovation, while they themselves were jeered harshly. However, for the first time in his life, James received such hatred during an introduction.
"Wow, this is unpleasant." James muttered while frowning at all the jeers and cries that called for his death. "Or it would be if they were strong enough to actually matter."
Naturally, James spoke loud enough for everyone in the stadium to hear him. So, the volume of all the booing and jeering went up another level.
"Unfortunate for you, the crowds wishes are going to become a reality." Bakken said as he clapped his hands above his head. "And you'll never even see it coming."
Instead of replying to Bakken's confident declaration, James only smiled at the demon standing in front of him.
Seeing that smile, Bakken felt as if James was looking down on him, which was completely true. So, with a frown on his face, he tensed all his muscles. A moment later, he began to sweat profusely. Another moment later, steam began to shoot out of his body and cover the ring. Then, it continued to expand, covering the entire stadium.
"[White Mist]." Bakken said before he could no longer be seen in the steam.
"Damn Dragon Slayer senses." James muttered to himself while his eyes began to water, after he inhaling the steam Bakken produced.
"Oh, this is absolutely charming." Shizuru said in a completely flat tone.
"Eww... It smells like sweat." Keiko said while squeezing her nose shut.
As Keiko said, the steam in the air was actually created from Bakken's sweat. Between the thickness of the steam and the scent it gave off, it would disorient most of his enemies and targets. Making his stealthy style of combat even more effective.
Unfortunately, Bakken was facing James. With his ridiculous sensing capabilities, James knew where Bakken was at all times.
What he did find interesting, however, was Bakken's way of moving through the fog, or steam, or whatever you want to call it. Bakken was travelling through the steam while spinning his body like a drill. In fact, it almost seemed like he was burrowing through the steam.
'I was wondering why Yusuke didn't seem to know where he was in the anime.' James thought to himself while keeping his senses trained on Bakken. 'He's not displacing any of the steam or the air. So, not even I can feel the direction he's in by feeling the wind on my skin.'
While James was having that thought, he casually raised his left hand after turning slightly to the left.
*Smack!*
A moment later, Bakken's fist slammed into James' open palm, making a loud sound ring through the stadium.
"How did you...?" Bakken asked in disbelief.
"This is a good trick when facing people who don't excel in sensing their opponents." James said casually. "Unfortunately, I'm pretty damn good at feeling everything in my surroundings."
As he spoke, James pulled his arm back slowly. Then, when his arm was in the perfect position to throw a punch, James began curling his fingers in a deliberate fashion.
Meanwhile, Bakken was trying everything he could to pull himself away from James' grasp. Bakken used his free hand to strike James on his arm, shoulder, and torso multiple times. He even tried punching and kicking James in the face, however, James dodged those particular attacks effortlessly.
Then, once his fingers were all balled into a fist, James pulled Bakken toward him and unleashed a devastating uppercut into Bakken's abdomen. After that, when Bakken doubled over in pain, James unleashed a torrent of punches, elbow strikes, kicks, knee strikes, and even headbutts on the defenseless demon.
After spending about six seconds pummeling Bakken, James finished his combo with a roundhouse kick that landed on Bakken's cheek, snapping his head to the side violently.
*Bang!*
*Crack!*
*Boom!*
An instant later, Bakken soared through the steam he created, displacing it as he flew by. Then, he slammed into the wall that separated the crowd from the ring at high speed. The impact of the collision was so powerful that the steam was blown away from the stadium while the wall had collapsed on top of Bakken who was most likely dead.
After the obstruction was cleared and everyone could see the state of the ring and how Bakken was laying buried in rubble, Kuto began her ten count. Needless to say, Bakken was unable to stand up and re-enter the ring before the count was over.
"The winner of the third match is J, from Team Urameshi!" Kuto shouted into her microphone.
"Boo~~~~~~~~~!" The crowd hissed and jeered.
However, before much time could pass, the red haired demon, Jin, hopped into the ring. With a big smile on his face, he walked confidently towards the center of the ring.
"It looks like Team Mashou's next competitor is ready to fight!" Kuto shouted, hyping the crowd up once again. "Match four: Jin of team Mashou Vs. J... Fight."
As soon as the start signal was given, Jin shot up into the air. Confusion set in over the crowd as Jin flew higher and higher. Eventually, the demon stopped when he was little more than a spec in the eyes of the audience.
"Now that's a view." Jin said as he shieled his eyes from the rays of the sun. "One day, soon, this will be ours."
"Well, you'll have to win before that happens, though." A voice rang out from behind Jin.
Turning around quickly, Jin saw James floating behind him with a pair of dragon wings growing out of his back.
"You can fly, too?" Jin asked in a disbelieving tone.
"Well, I am a devil, so, yeah?" James replied while tilting his head. "And it looks like you fly by controlling wind to liftand propel yourself, huh?"
"A devil, really? Never seen one before." Jin replied curiously. "In fact, I've only heard about them a little bit. Do all devils have wings...?"
"I see." James said, cutting off Jin with a nod. "Either way, I think it's time to get the fight started. And since no one can see the fight from up here..."
In an instant, James appeared above Jin with his right foot raised high. Seeing the incoming attack, Jin raised his arms in an X-shape to defend himself as James lowered his leg forcefully.
"*Bang!*
Then, Jin was sent toward the ground much faster than he had ascended.