Land of Shadows, Dun Scaith.
Several hours after James laid Flora down in her bed, James' peerage was gathered on the edge of the training ground in Dun Scaith. In the middle of the training ground, James, with his two swords, Ochiru Sakura and Mangetsu no Shita de, hung on the left side of his waist, and Scathach, with her cursed crimson red spear resting on her shoulder, stood opposite one another.
"So, why were we all gathered?" Lady asked.
"Apparently, we're going to get to see James go all out." Dante said with his arms crossed and leaning against the stone wall surrounding the training grounds.
"Seriously?" Cu Chulainn asked while wincing. He then turned his attention to Mizore, Moka, and Flora before continuing. "Well, you three better brace yourselves. By the end of this, James is gonna be in pretty bad shape."
"What do you mean?" Flora asked with concern. "This is just a spar, right?"
"Yes and no." Cu Chulainn replied, finding it difficult to put his thoughts into words. "If James doesn't pull out all the stops, there's a real chance that he could die."
"We have to stop this!" Mizore said almost hysterically. "Why would his master put him through something like this?"
As she tried to rush forward onto the sparring field, Moka wrapped her arms around Mizore from behind, holding her in place.
"Moka, why are you stopping me?" Mizore asked with an angry glare.
"You need to calm down." Moka said, tightening her grip on Mizore. "It's clear James is going through this of his own free will. Stepping in to stop it would be disrespecting him."
"Master Scathach did say something after she finished sparring with Flora..." Dante said before being interrupted.
"You mean before she started kicking your ass, right?" Lady said with a smirk.
"Shut up." Dante replied with a pointed glare. "Like I was saying. Master Scathach said something earlier. She said she wanted us all to watch so we knew how far we needed to grow in order to stand with our [King]. Not like that shit matters to me, though."
"What does that mean?" Moka asked, thinking that they were already standing with James.
"Although it pains me to admit it, James outclasses all of us." Cu Chulainn said while gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. "And not by a small amount."
Everyone looked at Cu Chulainn with amazement.
"Even you and Dante?" Flora asked skeptically.
"Yeah..." Cu Chulainn admitted, clenching his fists even tighter.
"How strong is he, really?" Moka asked herself with the flame of determination growing in her eyes.
"Master Scathach also said that you three, Mizore, Moka, and Flora, need to witness this especially." Dante said with his attention shifting back to the fight that was about to begin. "You have to raise yourself as close to James' level as you can. That way, you won't become a weakness for any of his enemies to exploit."
At the same time in the middle of the training ground, James and Scathach were chatting casually.
"It seems you have chosen a fine group of companions, my disciple." Scathach said as she glanced to where James' peerage was gathered. "They seem to truly cherish you as their [King]."
"Yeah." James replied with a smile. "Asking for more would be selfish. But since I'm a half-devil, that should be fine, right?"
"Oh? You still want for more?" Scathach asked in mild curiosity.
"Well, I have four [Pawns], a [Queen], a [Bishop], and a [Rook] left." James explained. "So, if I want to fill out my peerage, I have to find more companions, don't I?"
"I see." Scathach replied with a nod of acknowledgement. Then slamming the butt end of her spear into the ground, she continued. "Now, enough idle chatter. Let us begin."
Taking her stance, Scathach immediately charged toward James. At the same time, James dropped into an iaido stance, with his right hand on the hilt of Ochiru Sakura. Once she was in range, Scathach launched a volley of thrusts at James from many angles with varying speeds. James, to his credit, avoided ninety-nine of the incoming thrusts without even drawing his blade. The last one, however, was unavoidable. The rest of Scathach's thrusts all led James to be exactly where she wanted him to be, all for the last strike. And James knew it.
Expecting things to play out this way, James finally unsheathed Ochiru Sakura and parried the last thrust. Scathach, also expecting James' response to the situation, attempted to use the side of James blade as a pivot point, leveraging the counterforce to reposition herself for a back heel kick to James' chin. Unfortunately, James was able to observe Scathach's positioning. So, in response, he made her fulcrum disappear.
"Scatter, [Senbonzakura]."
With that, James' blade broke down into a thousand or so cherry blossom petal-shaped blades. Half of which he directed at Scathach, forcing her to take some distance. Spinning her spear and lashing at the petals, Scathach was able to clear her surroundings quite quickly. And just as she did, she heard James' voice.
"You who is crowned with the name of man, wearing a mask of flesh and blood, flying on ten thousand fluttering wings, with Thunder's carriage and an empty Spinning Wheel, break the Light into six pieces, carve a twin Lotus on a wall of Pale Blue Flames, and await the Blazing Fires to reach the Distant Heavens. [Bakudo Number 61: Rikujokoro (Six Light Rods Prison)].
At that moment, around Scathach six thin sheets of light appeared and intersected at her waist, immobilizing her briefly. Taking advantage of the opening, James had already sheathed the hilt of Ochiru Sakura. Once again dropping into an iaido stance, James used the [Flash Step] and closed the distance with Scathach. Once in range, he quickly unsheathed Mangetsu no Shita de aiming his slash at Scathach throat. Unfortunately, Scathach had swiftly dispelled James' Kido spell, but with no time to raise her weapon, she arched her back. Narrowly avoiding the incoming slash, Scathach was prepared to straighten her back. And when she did, Mangetsu no Shita de's sheath struck her on the right side of her face.
Blown away by the swing of James' sheath, Scathach righted her posture just in time to intercept the petal blades with her spear. In a fantastic show of spear handling, Scathach deflected every one of the thousand small blades with spearmanship alone. Then, she turned and lashed out with her spear toward her blind spot, parrying James thrust which resembled the Gatotsu from Rurouni Kenshin. Using the counter force from Scathach's parry, James ducked low and performed a leg sweep. Raising her leg, Scathach stepped over the sweep and thrust her spear at James' chest. Before the spear could reach him, a cloud of cherry blossom blades intercepted the it. With the time [Senbonzakura] had granted him, James stood. Simultaneously, he performed a rising slash. Scathach stepped back to avoid it and created Distance between them. Simultaneously, James called the petal blades back around him.
At the same time, James' peerage gaped at the display of martial skills.
"What the hell was that?" Dante said with one hand holding Cu Chulainn by the shoulder while the other pointed at the sparring field.
"I'm gonna need you to be more specific, Dante." Cu chulainn said as he swept Dante's hand from his shoulder.
"That spell." Dante said with his eyes wide open. "I thought [Senbonzakura] was his only means of ranged attack."
"You're the one who mentioned it first, right?" Cu Chulainn said with a roll of his eyes. "James is going all out. Though, I've never seen that one. The last time I saw any of his [Kido] he had only created up to Bakudo 37."
"Kido? Bakudo?" Lady asked, just as confused as Dante. "Aren't those from Bleach?"
Cu Chulainn nodded, but before he could explain Mizore interrupted.
"James said that he based the Kido in Bleach off of the [Kido Spells he was developing to go with his combat style."
Dante, Lady, and Flora were impressed, as were the others when they first heard about it. If they ever found out that it was the exact opposite, their faces would be a sight to see, indeed.
Dante then got back to the point. Asking a question indignantly.
"If he's been developing that set of spells for so long, why hasn't he ever used any of them in our free sparring sessions?"
"Wow! You really are an idiot." Lady said disdainfully. "In this fight against Master Scathach, James is going all out. You clearly aren't strong or skilled enough to force James to show his whole hand."
"Grr!" Dante growled in anger,
"While his peerage was talking about the fight, James and Scathach had exchanged many more sword and spear strikes. Defended against [Kido] and rune spells. After another four or five minutes with no one taking the advantage, Scathach pulled her distance and began to speak.
"You've grown more than I expected." Scathach said with a slight smile on her lips. "Now, I think the time is right to push you to your limits."
James tensed as with the end of her words; another spear appeared in her free hand.
"Fuck... me." James said weakly
He was having enough trouble with fending off just one spear. What would his body look like after she was done using two spears?
'I get the feeling this is gonna hurt... A lot.' James thought to himself.
"[Focus, partner.]" Ddraig interjected as James began to escape reality.
Hearing his closest ally's voice, James snapped back to reality. Luckily, Scathach had given him time to take his stance. James then took a deep breath. When he exhaled, a red light covered his left hand and forearm. When it faded, in its place, there was a red tekkou with gold accents and a green jewel on the back of the hand. For the first time in the fight, James felt it necessary to use the [Boosted Gear].
"[Boost!]."
'So, Ddraig, theoretically how many [Boosts] would I need to defeat her?' James asked inwardly.
"[I don't think that's the question you should be asking right now, partner]" Ddraig said with a chuckle. "[What you should be more concerned with is, how long will you survive to accumulate [Boosts].]"
'Fair Point... Whoa she's coming.' James exclaimed internally.
Knowing that James must have been strategizing with Ddraig, Scathach gave him a few moments. After she felt he had had enough time, she rushed at him. Thrusting and sweeping with her dual spear style. James, to his credit, avoided, defended, or parried most of Scathach's strikes with his blade. And for those attacks that proved too much for just one blade to defend, [Senbonzakura would intercept. In one of the brief moments [Senbonzakura] bought him, James raised his left hand with his index and middle finger pointed at Scathach.
"[Boost!]"
"[Hado number 4: Jugeki Byakurai (heavy-Strike Pale Lightening).]"
Using the modified version of [Hado number 4], James released a red bolt of lightning from his extended fingertips that flashed toward Scathach. Using the spear in her left hand, Scathach deflected the lightning upward. At the same time, James [Flash Stepped] to her right while he directed [Senbonzakura] to the blind spot behind her on the left. Simultaneously, James swung Mangetsu no Shita de down at Scathach shoulder while the petal blades swarmed at her kidney.
"[Boost!]"
In response, Scathach pulled her left spear down, then spun like a spinning top. As she rotated, she made minute adjustments to her spears trajectory to intercept all the incoming attacks. Though James kept up the attacks long enough for three more [Boosts], he had to step back eventually due to fatigue.
'If I wait any longer, I probably will lose before I can use it.' James said inwardly. 'I'm going for it, Ddraig.'
"[Do it, Partner.]" Ddraig said excitedly. His aura rising along with his battle lust.
"[Explosion!]"
James then felt his parameters skyrocket. With his increased speed combined with his [flash Step], James seemed to teleport to Scathach's side. The two then exchanged a flurry of sword and spear strikes, punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, and various spells. By the time James' [Boost] ended and the two separated, they were both covered in injuries. Though, Scathach's were decidedly lighter. James had more than a few new holes all over his arms, legs, and torso with various cuts and bruises covering his entire body. Scathach on the other hand, had a couple of cuts in her battle suit, a bruise on the left side of her face, and a streak of dry blood trailing from the left side of her mouth to her chin.
"*Pant* Damn *Pant* it *Pant*..." James muttered between ragged breaths. "I *Pant* knew *Pant* That wouldn't be *Pant* enough."
"It looks like you've reached your limit, my disciple." Scathach said while walking toward the exhausted James. "I believe the time to end this has come."
Scathach then broke into a sprint with the spear in her right hand poised to strike. And James could feel it. Whether he was able to defend against this strike or not, he would fall. However, the killing intent Scathach exuded let him know.
'If I can't block this, I'm going to die.'
James realized that instinctively. Unfortunately, he was unable to raise either of his swords. Also, [Senbonzakura] had been dispelled once James' stamina ran dry.
Noticing that Scathach's next strike, like most in this fight had, aimed to take James' life, the members of his peerage grew worried. And finally, Mizore could not help but scream.
"James~! Watch out~!"
'I'm really gonna die...' James thought to himself.
As the thought that he would die settled into his psyche, James grew angry. In his anger, his perception sped up exponentially. It felt as if Scathach's spear was moving in slow motion. His incoming death was crystal clear. This increased his anger even more. When his anger reached its peak, he roared indignantly.
"Fuck that shit! I can't die here! I still have to put my foot up Hades' bony ass!"
With his roar, James was covered in a blinding red light.
"[Welsh Dragon Balance Breaker: Boosted Gear Shihakusho]."
"[Boost!]" x 10
Once the light dispersed, James swung his sword to parry Scathach's thrust. However, due to the boost from the [Balance Breaker] state and the other subsequent [Boosts], Scathach was sent flying along with her spear. She eventually landed upright and observed her disciple's current state. At the same time, James was looking over himself, as well. He was currently wearing a red Shihakusho, similar to the Soul Reapers in bleach, with ten green jewels scattered about his outfit. Relieved that he was able to defend against Scathach's final strike, James relaxed. When he did, the [Balance Breaker] dispelled and James lost consciousness.
Before he hit the ground, Scathach appeared and caught him. Lowering herself and James to the ground, Scathach placed his head on her lap. Using her rune magic with her left hand, she patted James' head with her right.
"You did well, my disciple." Scathach said with a proud smile.