Chapter 251: James Vs. Crom Cruach... Again
Heaven, Third Heaven.
At the same time the others were teleported away, the rest of the devils and the angels who responded to the breech were also teleported. In an area of Third Heaven Irene purposefully cleared out with her [Universe One] spell, they all appeared along with all the mass produced Evil Dragons.
"Well, I guess it's clear that Loki was working with Rizevim at one point, after seeing this." Dante said after drawing Rebellion from his back.
As Dante said, all the mass produced Evil Dragons were inferior copies of the Sleeping Dragon, Midgardsormr.
"Yeah, but it looks like he's performed some upgrades." Lady said while drawing her own weapons.
"Yeah, last time they were all only at the middle-rank." Mizore said, coating her hands in ice. "This time they're at the high-rank."
"Yeah, at the intermediate-level, too." Moka said. "Not that that'll make a difference."
With that, the rest of James' peerage nodded in agreement.
"Even still, we should be careful." Shuna said, acting as the voice of reason. "We've got several combatants here that aren't at the high-rank."
Once again, the members of James' peerage nodded in agreement. They knew it would not look good if they lost themselves in the battle and failed to protect the weaker angels.
"Besides, we need to look after Mom, too." Flora said with a smile. "She's not really a fighter."
"Huh?" Leona said with a smile, appearing next to flora with the head of one of the Evil Dragons in her hands. "Did you say something?"
Seeing the radiant smile on Leona's face, no one knew what to say.
"Nope, not a thing." Flora said with a cramped smile on her face.
'She doesn't even carry weapons, how did she do that?' Flora thought to herself while staring at the head in Leona's hands.
"Ooh, me too!" Shion exclaimed excitedly. "I haven't got to kill a dragon in a long time."
"Just don't' say that in front of Irene." Shuna said with a wry smile on her face.
After that, the group shot off into the group of mass-produced Evil Dragons, cutting, ripping, shooting, burning, and smashing everything in their path. Meanwhile, the ten-winged angel that was leading the initial defense stared at the group of young devils in stunned silence.
"It's been so long, I've forgotten how territfying a group of ultimate-ranked devils could be." the ten-winged angel said apprehensively. "Are you sure it was a good idea to let them into Heaven?"
"You have nothing to worry about." Michael said after chuckling lightly. "Those young men and woman have good hearts."
"That's right." Gabriel said with a smile while she watched the devils. "They're all good boys and girls."
*Boom!*
At the same time off in the distance, Crom Cruach impacted the ground with such force that a cloud rose in the shape of a mushroom. A moment later, James flew over and landed close to the edge of the cloud.
"Ah... I've been wanting to continue our fight." Crom Cruach's voice came from the cloud. "This time, there will be no one to interrupt us."
"That's good." James replied with a battle hungry smile on his face. "Fighting someone as rusty as Sirzechs wasn't exactly fun for me. On top of that, I didn't even get to put my ability through its paces. Hell, I didn't use it at all."
"I assure you, I'll make sure you enjoy the battle much more than that one before I defeat you." Crom Cruach said as he spread his wings and dispersed the cloud of dust.
"Really?" James asked while tilting his head in confusion. "Last time we met, you were getting beat harder than Ise's dick."
Crom Cruach's eyebrow twitched at the comment. Although he had no idea what it meant, he felt as though he was being insulted.
"Enough." Crom Cruach said solemnly. "The time for talk is over."
With that, Crom Cruach flapped his wings and vanished from his spot. An instant later, he appeared in front of James with his right fist heading for his face. Calmly, James deflected Crom Cruach's blow with his right hand and followed up with a jab. Crom Cruach used his own left hand to block the punch. Then, James followed up with a low kick to Crom Cruach's left leg.
"Ugh." Crom Cruach grunted as the kick landed on a nerve cluster right above the knee.
With Crom Cruach flinching, James followed up quickly, capitalizing on the momentary opening. With his hands and feet lighting up in flames, James threw a knee that caused Crom Cruach to hunch over. Then a right hook followed to Crom Cruach's temple. After that, Crom Cruach was launched into the air with a left uppercut.
In the next moment, James appeared in front of Crom Cruach, throwing a right uppercut and sending the Evil dragon even higher into the air. An instant later, James was above Crom Cruach with both of his feet whipping down at Crom Cruach's head.
"[Inferno Dragon's Tail Whip]!" James exclaimed as his heels slammed into Crom Cruach's head.
*Bang!*
Crom Cruach was immediately shot toward the ground at high velocity. However, before he slammed into the ground, Crom Cruach spread his wings and stopped himself midair. Then, he shot up towards James, transforming his arms into a pair of dragon arms covered in pitch black scales.
"I think you should have had enough time to warm up." Crom Cruach said excitedly. "Now, let's get serious."
As Crom Cruach approached, James dropped into an iaido stance and placed his right hand on Carnage's hilt.
"[Inferno dragon's Sweeping claw." James said as he drew Carnage from its sheath.
*Clang!*
The impact between James' sword and Crom Cruach's claws caused a sound so loud that it could be heard far in the distance. As Crom Cruach swung his other claw toward James, James left hand found its way to Sixth Sense's hilt as well.
"[Twin Fangs of the Inferno Dragon]." James said while drawing Sixth Sense in a reverse grip.
*Clang!*
Another loud sound echoed across Third Heaven when the blade and claw met. Then, James began to rotate in place with his blades aimed at Crom Cruach's torso.
"[Spiraling Fangs of the Inferno Dragon]." James said as he spun at high speed.
*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* *Swish!*
After several full rotations while adjusting the position of his swords, James was finally able to break through Crom Cruach's defenses and leave a gash on his torso. Unfortunate for Crom Cruach, the attack was landed with Sixth Sense, cancelling his regeneration.
"That damn cursed blade again." Crom Cruach said as he was forced back by James strike.
The next moment, Crom Cruach flung himself forward again, this time his legs were also transformed into their dragon form. Then, with a swift kick upward, even after blocking it, James was sent flying higher into the air. Then, as James had done before, Crom Cruach flashed above him and swung his leg down.
*Bang!*
*Boom!*
James was sent barreling into the ground, causing a dust cloud to burst up from his impact. However, instead of a white cloud like the ones the ground was made of, the cloud James made was glowing in a dusk pink color.
"What is that?" Crom Cruach asked curiously. "It looks like things are going to get more interesting.
Just before James slammed into the ground, he activated his super devil state and everything in a nearly thirty-three foot (10 m) radius was turned into cherry blossom petal-shape blades. A moment later, the cloud of petal-blades split, revealing James with a pair of horns growing from his forehead and curving back to the base of his neck, looking like two extra cornrows, his caramel skin taking on a metallic sheen, and his irises turning completely into a dusk pink color.
"[Senbonzakura Mugen no Ha]." James said, finally deciding on a name for his latest version of [Senbonzakura].
Then, James body and swords dispersed into petal-blades and rushed towards Crom Cruach with the rest of the cloud. Where he stood before, instead of the hardened clouds that made up the ground, there was a spherical crater.
Seeing James' approach, Crom Cruach quickly shifted his entire body into his dragon form. Before the transformation could finish, however, he was covered by the countless petal-blades. For almost ten seconds, the sounds of clanging blades, scales being ground into, and flesh being cut could be heard. After that, the petal-blades dispersed and Crom Cruach was revealed. His body was covered in injuries with blood dripping, scales damaged or missing all together, and a large smile on his draconic face.
On the other hand, James seemed to walk out of the large cloud of petal-blades, though, in reality, he simply reconstituted his body.
'Well, damn.' James thought to himself after looking at Crom Cruach's current state. 'I did all that and didn't even use any of my [dragon Slayer Magic]. Hell, I didn't even pump extra demonic power into Carnage and Sixth Sense.'
Before he could contemplate any further, James noticed Crom Cruach approaching once again. So, he once again dropped into an iaido stance. However, neither of his swords were on his hip at the moment. Instead, he reached back a little further and sunk his hand into the cloud of petal-blades behind him.
However, instead of charging into melee combat like before, Crom Cruach opened his mouth wide and spit out a stream of gold and black flames.
His eyes now open wide, James grasped at the cloud of petal-blades. Then, he swung his arm forward. When he did, the entire cloud flew forward with it and tried to obstruct the incoming breath attack.
"[That's not going to work, Partner.]" Ddraig said while James injected his demonic energy into the petal-blades, and they were pushed back by Crom Cruach's flames.
"I know." James muttered as he continued pumping demonic energy into his attack. 'But what if I do this? [Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Onslaught of the Inferno Blossoms]."
As James finished, he spewed a stream of [dragon slayer Flames] from his mouth that engulfed part of the cloud of petal-blades. Slowly, the flames spread to the rest of the blades and began to equalize with the black and gold flames.
Then, James' body began to break down into petal-blades once again. Once he was no more than a smaller cloud of petal-blades. Then, he quickly merged into the larger cloud of petal-blades, James then attracted another small cloud of petal-blades. Then, injecting a large amount of demonic energy into the new blades, James flew straight into the black and gold flames, splitting the stream of flames and covering himself in his own flames to protect himself from the heat.
*Roar!*
After a few moments, Crom Cruach released a roar that could be heard across the entirety of Third Heaven. Then, a dusk pink cloud shot past Crom Cruach from below, followed by a line being drawn from his chin to the tip of his tail. A moment later, large amounts of blood began to flow out of that line and fall to the ground. Shortly after that, the Flames Crom Cruach had been breathing out began to die down.
"Well played, Boy." Crom Cruach said just as his flames died out completely.
As his flames disappeared, the cloud of petal-blades that were contending against them engulfed Crom Cruach. A moment later, his wings were shredded, and he began to fall from the sky.
*Boom!*
When Crom Cruach hit the ground, the small cloud of petal-blades that James turned into and had been floating behind the Cresent Circle Dragon for a few moments, reconstituted James' body. And in his hand was Carnage with its edge glowing brightly.
"Well, that definitely was much more fun than the fight with Sirzechs." James said as he sheathed Carnage. "His punches hurt a lot more, too."
"[Did you expect something else?]" Ddraig asked in a contemptuous tone. "[Even if he could call himself a 'Super Devil,' he would never be able to match a dragon in physical strength.]"
James could even feel Ddraig making air quotes as he said the words "Super Devil," which made him chuckle involuntarily.
"Yes, yes, yes." James said dismissively. "Dragons are the strongest."
"What's with that patronizing tone?" Ddraig shouted angrily, letting his voice be heard outside of the [Boosted Gear].
"Anyway, we've got bigger things to worry about." James said, deciding to ignore Ddraig's rising anger.
"What do you mean, 'Anyway'...?" Ddraig asked.
"He's still alive." James said, pointing at Crom Cruach with his finger.
"[Then, what do you plan on doing with him?]" Ddraig asked. "[Are you gonna kill him?]"
"Only if he declines my offer." James said with a smile.
After that, James began to lower himself to the ground near Crom Cruach's head.
"Did you enjoy yourself?" James asked with a smile.
"Indeed." Crom Cruach said weakly. "It was an enjoyable battle."
"Glad to hear it." James replied. "So, I've got a proposition for you."
Crom Cruach did not answer, but James could tell he was listening.
"Currently, you've got two options." James said, holding up two fingers. "The first is to die, here and now."
James paused momentarily for dramatic effect. Then, when he saw that Crom Cruach was growing impatient, he continued.
"Or, you can become my familiar." James said, feeling Crom Cruach's killing intent flow over him at the mere mention of becoming a familiar. "Take it easy, big guy. I have no intention of binding you like a slave. The only thing that I ask is that you don't harm my people. In return, you'll have a couple strong people to spar with whenever the mood strikes you. For example, me and Scathach, who is my master."
Although Crom Cruach did not like the idea of becoming a familiar, he really did not want to die. The only reason he worked with Rizevim was so that he could fight strong people and grow stronger from it. If he were to join James, he would be able to fight strong people and the only price was that he could not attack James' people.
"Fine, I'll accept your offer." Crom Cruach said. Then, determination began to burn in his eyes. "But only until I grow strong enough to defeat you. When that happens, our contract will end, and you will more than likely die as a result of the battle."
"I can live with that." James replied with a sneer. "Oh, and good luck with that."
After that, James initiated the familiar contract ritual. A moment later, the familiar pact was signed, and a mark appeared on the back of James' left hand to signify it.
"Alright, we should get you healed up." James said with a smile. "Then, we can put down the rest of those mass-produced Evil Dragons, since the other ones you came here with are already dead."
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