123 James vs. Kokabiel

Human World, Japan, Kuoh.

"God is dead." Kokabiel announced grandly. "He has been since the end of the Great War."

With Kokabiel's announcement, the atmosphere on the battlefield froze in an instant. The two who were most affected were, of course, Asia and Xenovia. In despair, they had both fallen to their knees. The rest were stunned into silence, as well. All except James and Valper, that is.

"I'm glad that was the case." James said with a sigh. Then, he turned and punched Valper in the jaw. "Because of he had allowed the kinda shit this guy was doing to go unpunished, I would have been highly disappointed."

"Gah~!" Valper cried in agony. James' punch was hard enough to break his jaw and knock out several of his teeth.

Seeing James' actions, Yuuto was happy. Everyone else was surprised that James could recover so quickly. With Asia and Xenovia just looking at him blankly.

"What?" James asked when he noticed all the blank stares directed at him. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Why aren't you more surprised?" Rias asked as the representative of all the others.

"Well, after I saw Kiba's [Balance Breaker], I came to the same conclusion as that guy." James said as he kicked Valper, who was still groaning on the ground. "I mean if Big G were still alive, there is no way that would be possible. He would never allow holy and demonic energy to mix like that, right?"

As he asked his last question, James turned his attention back toward Kokabiel. Kokabiel looked at him with a bit of intrigue in his gaze. Then, he decided to answer his question.

"You're smart for a piece of filthy devil scum." Kokabiel said with a grin. "But you're correct. Father would never allow something as disgusting as demonic power to mix with holy power."

"Quite the back-handed compliment." James said with a shrug. "Either way, I think it's time to bring this to an end."

"You weren't kidding, were you?" Kokabiel looked at James incredulously. "You really intend to fight me alone, don't you?"

"That's right." James said as he took his stance. Then, a look of realization appeared on his face. "Wait a minute."

After James dropped his stance once again, he pointed his index and middle fingers of his left hand at Valper and spoke.

"[Bakudo Number 1: Sai.]"

As James finished his short incantation, Valper's arms were pulled behind his back and restrained with invisible ropes of demonic energy. Then, without mercy he kicked the elderly man toward his allies. When Valper landed in front of them, James addressed them.

"Make sure he doesn't try to run." James said as he turned his attention back to Kokabiel, who was looking at his actions with interest. "If he decides to kill himself, though, I don't care."

Yuuto then picked up Valper. He decided that he would not' let him kill himself so that he could be punished for his wrong doings. At the same time, Rias addressed the rest of the group.

"I think it would be a good idea for us to take some distance." Rias said as she looked at the rest of the group. "If James goes all out, this could be a dangerous place to be. Issei, Koneko, help Asia and Xenovia to retreat with us."

"Yes, Buchou." Koneko and Issei replied as they helped Asia and Xenovia, respectively.

"Will he be alright by himself?" Xenovia asked as she was supported by Koneko.

"James-Nii is strong." Koneko said without hesitation. "Really strong."

Xenovia, still unfamiliar with James' strength, could only watch the battle from a distance like everyone else.

Meanwhile, outside of the barrier, because of the magic woven into it, Sona and her entire peerage, along with James' peerage, were able to hear the entire conversation.

"Is this for real?" Sona asked in disbelief.

"I don't know, but we'll have some questions to ask Lord Lucifer and Lady Serafall later." Cu Chulainn replied with a shrug.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Tsubaki asked in annoyance.

"Because I'm not a Christian." Cu Chulainn replied nonchalantly. "So why should the death of their chief deity bother me?"

Everyone who heard him could only slump their shoulders at his reply. It was so reasonable that they could find nothing to retort with.

"Anyway, this fight should be fun to watch." Dante said while standing nearby with his arms crossed. "This might be the first time we'll get to see him go all out since that one fight with Master Scathach."

"You've seen him go all out?" Sona asked with intrigue.

"Yeah, it was during your first year of high school." Dante said. "I think it was during summer break when he took all of us to the Land of Shadows. Right, Lancer?"

"It was winter break." cu Chulainnn replied. "But yeah, it was during your first year. Master wanted to see his progress over the years. She made me do it, too."

"Yeah, but you got your ass kicked much worse than James did." Mizore said with a smile.

"James awakened his [Balance Breaker] During that fight, too." Moka chimed in.

"He's awakened his [Balance Breaker]?" Sona asked with surprise in her tone.

Everyone in Sona's peerage was also surprised. Meanwhile, Mizore looked at Moka with a pout.

"Moka, you messed up this time." Mizore said unhappily. "James hasn't even revealed that he's the Red Dragon Emperor Publicly, yet. He wanted to surprise everyone with his [Balance Breaker] when he debuted in the [Rating Games]."

"I really don't think you have to worry about that." Moka said with a smile. "James is more than likely going to use it against Kokabiel tonight."

"The fight is starting!" Tsubasa shouted excitedly

Inside the barrier, James took his stance once again. At the same time, Kokabiel created a sword of light.

"A sword, huh?" James said with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you fallen angels only knew how to make and throw spears with your holy light."

"Do you really think someone who has lived as long as I have wouldn't learn how to fight with other weapons?" Kokabiel asked as he walked toward James.

"I guess that makes sense." James said before [Flash Stepping] toward Kokabiel.

*Clang!*

A moment later, their two swords collided. As Kokabiel blocked James' overhead strike. Then, Kokabiel redirected James' blade to his right and pulled his sword back to thrust at James chest. Reacting quickly, James parried the thrust upward, causing the sword of light to pass over his left shoulder. Then, he transitioned into a diagonal slash that would cut Kokabiel from his right shoulder to his left waist, should it connect.

Fortunately, Kokabiel was able to react in time. Taking a step backward, he was able to narrowly avoid the incoming slash. As he backed away, Kokabiel created three light spears around him and used his powers to launch them at his foe.

Also taking a step back, James coated his blade with his demonic energy and deflected the incoming projectiles. Unfortunately for the surrounding buildings, they were damaged as collateral. With the projectiles taken care of, James dashed forward.

"Scatter, [Senbonzakura]."

While approaching Kokabiel, Ochiru Sakura's blade broke down from its tip. Once it was finished, there were a thousand cherry blossom petal-shaped blades rushing toward Kokabiel. Surprised to see this bloodline ability, Kokabiel created a second sword of light in his free hand. Then, he masterfully deflected all the incoming projectiles. Just as the bombardment finished, James appeared in front of him.

Dropped down into an iaido stance, James quickly drew his Mangetsu no Shita de and slashed upward toward Kokabiel's throat. Unable to bring his swords up to defend, Kokabiel could only lean back slightly. Luckily, Kokabiel had leaned back just enough to avoid a fatal attack. Unfortunately, he was not expecting the follow up attack from the sheath in James left hand.

*Crunch!*

"Hmph!"

Along with the sound of broken ribs and the grunt of pain, Kokabiel was also sent flying toward the main school building with blood leaking from his mouth.

*Boom!*

Eventually, Kokabiel slammed into, and crashed through a wall. While creating a cloud of dust and debris in the process.

"Hey! Do you think you could try to keep the collateral damage to a minimum?" Rias asked with her hands resting on her hips. "Who do you think will have to fix all this later"

"You and Sona." James said nonchalantly while keeping his sights trained on the cloud of dust.

Before Rias could complain any further, several light spears were launched toward James, dispersing the cloud of dust as they flew by. Using [Senbonzakura], James was able to destroy all the incoming projectiles. A moment later, however, Kokabiel came flying out of the hole in the wall he created when he was sent flying. With a light sword in each hand, he was able to disperse the petal-shaped blades long enough to pass through. Then, he swung the swords in a cross shape. James was able to stop the incoming slashes with one well-placed slash of his own, however, the best he could do was lock swords.

"You're better than I expected, Kid." Kokabiel said with a battle hungry smile. "And to think you're that abominations son. He was even given a name like ours, just to mock us"

"Abomination, that's kinda rude, don't you think?" James asked with a similar battle hungry smile on his face. "But I guess I can see why you would call him that. He was created by that bony bastard you're working with, after all."

"Working with him?" Kokabiel said with a scoff. "Don't be stupid, I just borrowed those puppies from him for tonight."

As he finished speaking, Kokabiel exerted force and pushed himself away from the blade locking contest. Then, he extended his wings and flew upward. Deciding it was unnecessary to destroy the barrier from the inside, Kokabiel looked down toward James. Then, toward everyone else in and around the barrier.

"Not that a test of our sword skills isn't enjoyable." Kokabiel said with a smile. "But I get the feeling we could end up fighting for days if things go on like this. So instead, I'll finish everything all at once."

"*sigh* Is monologuing part of the how to be a villain curriculum, or something?" James asked with a sigh. "I mean seriously... They all sound practically the same. At least do something to make the speeches your own. Make me feel like I'm hearing it for the first time... every time."

To that, everyone could only stare at James blankly. The atmosphere froze momentarily as well. Eventually, Kokabiel was unable to stand the mockery.

"You dare mock me?" Kokabiel asked angrily. "I am Kokabiel, Angel of the Stars!"

"Don't you mean Fallen Angel of the Stars?" James asked with an innocent expression on his face.

"I'll kill you, you bastard!" Kokabiel shouted as he raised his arms into the air. "I'll show you why I was called the Angel of the Stars!"

Then, due to Kokabiel's actions, the night sky began to glow. Many points of light began to appear. And as time went by, they grew in size.

"Oh, shit..." James said as he stared up at the sky with a wry smile on his face. "I guess I teased him too much."

"You can think about that later!" Rias shouted. "If those meteorites hit, they'll wipe out the entire town."

"Take it easy, Ri Ri." James said while waving dismissively. "I can handle that with no problem."

"You think those thousand little blades from your bloodline can save you?" Kokabiel asked while laughing maniacally. "I think you'll need a few more."

"*Sigh* You're right about that." James said with a downcast look on his face. "I wanted to keep this secret until I debuted in the [Rating Games]. I'm gonna have to write it into my report this time, though."

"What the hell are you talking about, boy?" Kokabiel asked with a scowl on his face.

"This." James said as he recalled [Senbonzakura] and sheathed both of his katana. "[Balance Breaker]."

"[Boosted Gear: Shihakusho!]"

With that, James was momentarily covered in a red light. When the light dimmed, James was wearing a red Shihakusho with black accents and green jewels spread over his outfit.

[Boost!] x 10

Then, he drew his katana, Ochiru Sakura, while simultaneously spreading his draconic aura across the ground. A moment later, he mixed his draconic aura into Ochiru Sakura. Finally, he held the katana with the blade pointing down. Then, he dropped it.

[Transfer!]

"Scatter! [Senbonzakura Kageyoshi]."

While the katana fell, James transferred half of the [Boosts] to his draconic aura and transferred the other half into Ochiru Sakura. Then, as Ochiru Sakura contacted the ground, it simply sunk into the draconic aura covering the surface. Then, a moment later, one hundred copies of Ochiru Sakura that were ten times the size of the original grew out of the ground. A moment later, they all began to break down into cherry blossom petal-shaped blades.

"So, how do you think this will hold up?" James asked while looking up into the sky.

Then, James raised a hand to the sky and the enormous cloud of petal blades flew upward. As they flew past Kokabiel, who was still in shock at the revelation that James was this generation's Red Dragon Emperor, many thin, yet shallow gashes appeared all over his body and wings. Then, he fell from the sky due to all the injuries to his wings.

Eventually, with the meteorites Kokabiel falling toward the ground, they fell into the cloud of [Senbonzakura] petals and were minced into particles small enough that they would be unable to harm anything or anyone.

"Phew..." James exhaled deeply as he dispelled his [Balance Breaker]. "I really didn't want to reveal that. Now I'm gonna have a stalker who wants to fight me all the time, right, White Dragon Emperor?"

As James finished, someone in a white scale like armor with a dragon motif showed themself from behind a pile of rubble.

"As much as I'd like to fight you right now." The White Dragon Emperor said. "I was tasked to bring this jack ass back to the Grigori."

"That's fine with me." James said with a shrug. "But we'll need to know what you found out during the interrogation. He did attack the heiresses of two of the 72 Pillar Houses, after all."

"I'll pass on the message." The White Dragon Emperor said as they nodded.

Then, a teleportation magic circle appeared beneath The White Dragon Emperor and Kokabiel. A moment later, the two vanished.

"So, it's over?" Rias asked as she and the rest of the group approached James.

"Yeah." James said as he dispelled his [Sacred Gear. "I guess it's time to do the cleanup."

With that, everyone sighed tiredly. Then, the barrier team and James' peerage entered the school grounds and began reconstructing the school.