Chapter 384: Examination
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Back when the Earth was first created, and the other worlds such as the Underworld and Heaven came into existence, a seemingly infinite space between these different worlds also came into existence, the Dimensional Gap. A place not unlike space where most life forms would be unable to survive direct exposure to for prolonged periods of time without protection, except for one being.
As time passed the void that was the Dimensional Gap spawned an entity unlike any other in the world's that were connected to it, a being that embodied the concept of 'infinity' while taking the form of some of the most powerful beings that existed in the other worlds, the Ouroboros Dragon, Ophis.
For endless years Ophis wandered the Gap aimlessly, innocent and curious about everything around it, until the day it decided to enter one of the world's connected to the Gap. There, it encountered the only ever living beings it had seen besides itself, as well as others that were like it, dragons.
Compared to the rest of the great beasts though Opis was unconditionally the strongest, which led to it being recognized as the God of all dragons. However, unlike others gods who were actively worshipped, Ophis's position was more of a matter of respect and status than anything else. Using its status, Ophis eventually established the rankings of the two Heavenly Dragons and the five Dragon Kings, dragons who were more powerful than the majority of their brethren.
Regardless of how much time it spent around the beings of earth however, or what form it took amongst them, Ophis had constantly been regarded with a mixture of fear, and respect. Many treated it like a bomb that was about to go off at any given moment, destroying everything around it before going on it's way.
Eventually it had made the decision to return to the place that had birthed it, the Dimensional Gap, but something else had already made it it's home, Great Red.
Around the time that Ophis had again changed their form to that of a young girl, she also created an organization designed to help her deal with Great Red before she could return to her home for the silence she had grown to d.e.s.i.r.e, the Khaos Brigade. With exiled Devils, magicians, and humans bearing Sacred Gears filling its ranks, the organization became feared by every major faction almost overnight due mostly because of her backing.
However, despite the Devils being powered up by her and possessing the descendants of the former Maou in their ranks, despite the humans who called themselves Heroes possessing numerous Longinus Sacred Gears and the blood of heroes of the past, and the collected knowledge of the mages association, the Khaos Brigade was experiencing setbacks in almost all of their endeavors by either one of two people, the Heavenly Dragons.
As she continued hearing about them, Ophis couldn't help but to become increasingly interested in the current possessors of Albion, the Vanishing Dragon, and especially Ddraig, the Welsh Dragon. When she finally did meet the one who currently possessed Ddraig though, Ophis had been surprised when he didn't seem to fear her.
At first she was simply curious about him, but as time went on Ophis grew to like Alex's company since he always gave her snacks and didn't treat her like something to feared. Then, after he even protected her from the one thing that could harm her, Samuel, he brought her to the place he called 'Asora'.
In a word, she considered Asora to be 'amazing' as it was untouched by anything or anyone, a perfect Eden where she wouldn't be surrounded by the fear of others, for a time. Eventually Alex began bringing more people into Asora along with Gabriel, Yasaka, Barakiel, and Serafall.
At first the people that were making Asora into their new home regarded her with the same fear and wariness as everyone else, while also threatening to devolve into fighting amongst themselves due to their past as Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels. Then, something unusual happened.
Gabriel, Yasaka, Serafall, and Barakiel all reminded their people of the things they'd lost due to their fighting, and why it was that they came to Asora to begin with, leading to their respective people reluctantly putting down their weapons to build their new home. Overnight an entire forest of Asora had been cleared, and in its place was enough modern buildings to house the hundreds of new inhabitants.
What surprised Ophis though was that one of the first places to be built after their own homes was a building dedicated to her, her first ever shrine. It was almost immediately after that something else happened that had never happened to her before, a devil woman visited her with her young son, and some fresh cake she had just made.
Despite the woman's nervousness, Ophis accepted the cake and ate it right in front of her before telling her it was delicious, making the devil woman almost faint in relief. However, the most shocking thing to occur happened after she finished eating the cake, and the young devil boy innocently asked Ophis if she wanted to play, since they looked similar in age physically. From that point on her life once again changed drastically.
With the children not having the same apprehension as their parents regarding the world's undisputed strongest being, they quickly warmed up to Ophis and would regularly come see her to play. And then, as the days slipped by without incident, the others too began to relax around Ophis as they occasionally brought her 'offerings', which they quickly learned that Ophis had quite the sweet tooth. Soon the 'offerings' started coming daily, and as they brought them the people would genuinely smile at her as they asked how her day was going.
With everyone warming up to her, and Alex considering her their last line of defense of Asora was ever attacked, Ophis was soon regarded by many to essentially be the Guardian Deity of Asora, a role she readily accepted.
Though Alex had explained to her how fighting was bad, which she had in turn said to Crom Cruach when he requested a fight with her, he had also told her how fighting to protect those you had grown to care about was good. With everyone in Asora essentially becoming her 'friends', Ophis would readily fight if someone managed to get in that would harm them.
Or so she thought.
When Alex had only been gone for a few days to explore whatever new world they were in, a stranger had intruded into Asora, and Ophis had never even noticed. She never noticed him entering their world. She never noticed him as he blatantly wandered around their home unchecked. And she never even noticed as he took one of Alex's children, and left with her in his arms.
When the realization that all of this had happened on 'her watch', a feeling unlike anything Ophis had ever experienced filled her, and she even began leaking a little bit of fluid from her eyes. It had even taken everything she had not to participate in the battle to wipe out Darius's forces, as then she wouldn't actually be fighting to 'protect'.
Even now, when Edith was safely brought home and Alex had returned, sitting in his kitchen, despite the happy atmosphere around her Ophis was still filled with the same feeling she had felt before. This time however, seeing Alex face to face, the feeling felt even worse right up until Alex asked her,
"What's wrong Ophis?"
Looking up at Alex, the feeling grew as all that escaped her lips was three words,
"I failed Alex..."
Panic immediately seized Alex's mind when the petite dragon God looked as if she was going to burst into tears any second, making his previous happy mood evaporate in an instant as he tried to console her.
"What?! Not at all! Why do you think you failed me?" By this point tears really did start forming at the corners of Ophis's eyes as she said,
"I was supposed to protect Asora, to protect Alex's family, and I failed..." As she trailed off Alex hurriedly grabbed some paper towels to wipe away Ophis's tears as he said,
"No you didn't! The man this time was someone who had a stupid ability, there was no way you could have known he was here unless he intentionally made himself known." Rather than being consoled by his words though, Ophis shook her head and said,
"But I am Ophis, infinite God of dragons. I should have been able to tell he was here...!" With her saying much more than she usually would, Alex tried to think of something to reassure her when Ophis suddenly added,
"I will get stronger...!" Everyone except the children stopped what they were doing and looked at Ophis in surprise at her declaration as the petite dragon God turned and left the kitchen with a resolute expression on her face, before leaving the manor altogether and taking flight into the sky and space beyond.
While everyone else was trying wrap their heads around the terrifying idea of Ophis becoming even more powerful, Alex felt a chill go down his spine.
TECHNICALLY, as a deity representing the concept of infinity, Ophis SHOULD have been at least as powerful as the Omni-King from Dragon Ball Super, if not even more so. However, for reasons unknown, that didn't seem to be the case.
The only reasonable answer Alex had been able to come up with during the occasional times he thought about this, was that since the scale of power between DXD and DBS were so drastically different, Ophis had been severely nerfed since a being capable of wiping out entire universes wasn't necessary to the plot of DXD. Another way to phrase or think about it was that since Ophis had never even considered using so much power, due to everyone in DXD being so much weaker than her, she had never even tried to push her abilities to see how far they could go.
Regardless of the reason though, Ophis wanting to try and become more powerful was a very terrifying thought. Everyone had yet to wrap their heads around it when Barakiel made his appearance, and was going to ask what was up with Ophis when he caught sight of Alex.
"What the hell happened to your face?!" He exclaimed loudly, to which Alex looked up and immediately shot back,
"What the hell happened to yours?" Though he wasn't actually referring to anything on Barakiel's face, the fallen angel paled as he quickly reached up and rubbed a particular spot, before grabbing a nearby spoon and using it to look at his reflection.
Seeing that Ririko hadn't left a mark like he feared, Barakiel sighed in relief before looking up to see everyone deadpanning at him.
"What?" He asked defensively, before a chill suddenly ran down his spine this time.
"Ara ara, father, are things really getting so intense between you and miss Ririko? I wonder when you will give me a baby sister? Ah! But then I might end up having to share my husband with her in the future. Hmmmm..." While Akeno was thinking on what she said, Alex's brow twitched at what she just implied, but before he could say anything Barakiel roared,
"THERES NO WAY! Even we end up having a daughter together I'll never allow her to be with HIM as well! Besides, for all we know, when we finally do get to that point Kagome and I could end up having a boy." As he said that a peculiar look showed itself on Barakiel's face as he pictured having a son this time, before Moka muttered out loud,
"Aren't all lamia women though?" In an instant all of Barakiel's earlier thoughts vanished as this one point echoed within his head, that chances were his and Ririko's child would probably be a lamia like her mother.
As Barakiel despaired, and the women gave him looks of pity, Alex couldn't help but internally remark, 'why's it already assumed that I'd just take any other daughters Barakiel might have as well?'
'...'
With both Ddraig and Lauren choosing to remain silent at Alex's internal question, he decided to ignore it and instead ask out loud,
"So what brings you here Barakiel?" Looking up at his name, Barakiel gave one last sniffle before switching to his professional mode and saying as he stood up,
"Along with seeing Shuri, I came to give you a report and check up on you since you used the Boosted Gear and your transformation at the same time. So, how are you feeling?" Though he was momentarily surprised that Barakiel would come to check up on him, Alex quickly answered,
"I feel fine, really." Though he was genuinely fine, everyone gave him a skeptic look before Barakiel said,
"Well I brought someone to give you a once over just in case." As if they had been waiting for their cue, Mikado, Tearju, and Oshizu all walked in with the former dressed like a doctor, while the latter two were dressed like nurses.
"D-do we really have to wear these?" Tearju asked with a red face as she desperately tried to pull the short nurses skirt down further, to which Mikado replied with a smile,
"No, but I think Alex would enjoy them a bit more than your usual clothes, don't you think?" Tearju's face became even redder when she heard Mikado's reasoning, and even noticed Alex appraising the three of them without even trying to hide his wandering eyes.
CHOP
"No l.e.w.ding Tear." Yami said suddenly as her hair came alive and chopped down onto Alex's head, making him look at her incredulously since he hadn't been the one to make Tearju wear such a thing. Before he could say anything though, Mikado cut him off by saying,
"Alright then! Now can you remove your shirt Alex and take a seat on that stool next to you?" As she asked him to remove his shirt Mikado produced a few medical instruments from the handbag she had been carrying, seemingly intent on doing the examination right there in the kitchen.
The examination then proceeded about how one would expect, Mikado used her instruments to check on the various parts of Alex's body, such as his breathing and heartbeat, while he openly flirted with her, Oshizu, and even Tearju despite Yami's piercing glare. Meanwhile, off to the side, the children were still eating their breakfast as they watched their father with interest, until Remia hastened them so they could get ready to go outside.
Eventually the examination ended with Mikado using a specially made machine to measure Alex's internal energies, before drawing a small vial of blood to examine later.
"That about does it, he really is perfectly healthy." Mikado finally said after finishing everything up, to which everyone who was still there let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that they didn't trust Alex when he said he was alright, but it was always better to have the word of a professional.
Meanwhile the man himself was simply smiling wryly as he said, "I told you all before, the SSJ4 transformation is fundamentally different than the others so there was no need to worry." Barakiel looked thoughtful when Alex said this, before asking,
"How exactly is it different though?" Rather than refuting what Alex was saying though, Barakiel was simply curious about what made this form so special compared to the others, especially since it was obviously much more powerful. It was at that moment that the red gauntlet appeared on Alex left arm, and Ddraig's voice sounded out,
Everyone listened intently as Ddraig explained how the previous three SSJ forms were based around using Alex's own energy to fuel his increase in strength, which followed the same principle of the Boosted Gear. Basically, when Alex used both he was over saturating his body in energy so much that it would cause the side effects in his body, such as the Boosted Gear being unusable for a time. Meanwhile, the SSJ4 transformation was a direct physical transformation while also increasing his energy, making the form much easier to maintain, train, and even allowing Alex to use the Boosted Gear while it was active.
After listening to his explanation, Mikado then asked what was everyone else's minds, "Can you show me the transformation?" As she had spent the night using her medical expertise to help those who needed it on Earthland, Mikado hadn't witnessed Alex's transformation during his fight with Darius, or his transition back when he returned.
With everyone else looking at him expectantly, Alex smiled wryly before closing his eyes and focusing his energy.
(A.N. Before people started mentioning it, I'm not including the full moon requirements for the SSj4 since most characters that had it seemed to bypass it in some way(I mean what was the point of a restriction if it didn't apply to anyone?), and since someone brought it up before I'm not doing the whole 'SSJ4 transformation creates pants for the user', because I'm fairly certain that was just so the creators wouldn't have to deal with characters being n.a.k.e.d after the Golden Oozaru transformation.)
Everyone watched with bated breath as Alex's body began to radiate a massive amount of energy before his black hair started to grow longer and even darker, and a layer of bright red fur began to grow all over his body. While that was happening, surprising those who hadn't seen it before, Alex's body also started to grow in size until he was several inches taller, and his muscles were much more defined.
The stool Alex was sitting on even started groaning as his size increased, along with apparently his weight. Though he was worried that it wouldn't hold, thankfully the stool never collapsed under Alex as his size and weight stopped increasing.
By the time the transformation was over, Alex opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him in awe, from both the power radiating from his body, and his physical appearance. Smirking at them, he then asked in a gruff voice,
"What? Cat got your tongue?" Startling them out of their reverie, Mikado directly started looking Alex up and down before saying,
"Interesting, on top of growing larger you also seem to have become a lot more dense and heavier as well..." Mikado trailed off as she began to look over Alex's body with a professional gaze, before she began to lightly tap Alex's c.h.e.s.t and arms to test the firmness.
She then retrieved some of the same instruments she had already put away to test for any other differences in Alex's body, ranging from things like muscle and bone density, to his new height and weight. She had even attempted to draw some more blood to try and do a before and after comparison, but the needle broke as she tried to insert it.
As Mikado was finishing up her examination, Barakiel then asked,
"Could you also come to the Grigori institute later? I want to show you the maps after your new transformations influenced Asora last night, and we could probably also do some performance tests regarding your new form." After a moment of consideration Alex nodded and said,
"Sure, I have a few different things that I want to test as well so that works for me. But I also have some things I need to take care of today as well so we'll have to do it later."
With all of the prisoners they had acquired from being on 'the list', Alex wanted to go and try to talk to them at some point that day before they started getting the wrong idea about why they had been captured. He also needed to pay Hajime a visit to discuss his progress with the gates to other worlds, since that copycat made Alex slightly anxious to return to DXD.
The moment he thought about Hajime though, Alex's consciousness brought him to the man in question, who was currently busy banging his two wives. Acting as if he hadn't just witnessed Kaori's bouncing t.i.t.s or Yuuka bent over with her cheeks spread, Alex kept a straight face as he stood and departed to start working on the things he mentioned, while the rest of the women went to work on their own duties as well.
While they weren't directly repairing the damage done to the various countries and cities of Earthland by Darius and his followers, Anne was still ensuring that the people were fit enough and had the basic necessities needed to rebuild their lives. The actual rebuilding would have to be done by them though, like the people of Hargeon, who had already began opening what few businesses they could and building new sh.i.p.s to use for fishing.
Meanwhile Mikado and Kurumu had gone to Natsu and Gajeel to try and undo the damage done by Alice while they were her toys. Though her influence might have disappeared after her death, they still recalled everything that had happened while they had been held prisoner by her.
Alex on the other hand headed straight to their prisons, complexes underground where they could seal the powers of those within and even manipulate the time inside if they wished. This had been useful for prisoners like Cattleya, where the idea had been to break her over a long period of time without actually waiting for her to break. The reverse was also possible though where they could set the time in someone's cell to go really slow.
This time however neither of these were being used since everyone they imprisoned were those Alex intended to try and give a second chance. Opening the door and entering the first cell he arrived to, Alex found a beautiful and m.a.t.u.r.e scarlet haired woman glaring at him, Irene Belserion.
"What do you want?" Irene demanded testily after Alex closed the cell door behind him, locking the two of them in together.
Instead of appearing annoyed at her attitude though, Alex simply conjured a chair to sit in across from her before finally saying,
"I want to make you an offer Irene, working for me here in Asora." Irene's brow twitched when she heard Alex's offer, before she spat at him,
"And why exactly would I want to accept that offer?" Alex simply shrugged at her her before saying,
"I don't know, maybe because I can revert you to being a human instead of a dragon, because I can give you access to magics and artifacts the likes of which you've never, seen, I have your own daughter with me, and the fact that even if you don't accept I can simply mark you as my slave and make you work for me regardless."
Irene gapped at Alex as he finished his list of reasons for her work for him, all of which she ignored except for one.
"And why exactly should I care that that useless failure is here?" She asked as she turned up her nose to him, making Alex's brow twitch in irritation for how she talking about her own daughter despite knowing she didn't actually mean it.
Irene carried the unborn Erza within her for over four hundred years before finally giving birth to her, with the intention of transplanting her own consciousness into Erza's body. When the time came though, she had been unable to bring herself to erase the tiny existence that she had carried for so long.
When the two of them fought in the original series though, Irene had repeatedly told Erza that she was a 'failure' with no capacity for enchantments, and that had been the reason she abandoned her. Now however Erza already knew the truth, as well as Alex, so no matter how much Irene tried to convince him she didn't care about her daughter, he didn't buy it.
That was why, instead of trying to convince her, he simply stood and said,
"I'll let you sleep on it." Irene opened her mouth to tell him something offensive since she couldn't sleep, but before she could her consciousness suddenly went dark as Alex used Spirit magic to put her to sleep.
Instead of collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut though, Alex used his 'Telekinesis' to lift her body into the air, before he began to channel Alteration and Regeneration magic onto her.
***
In another cell three other people were imprisoned as they awaited their captors to come and speak to them, Silver Fullbuster, August Dragneel, and Brandish.
The trio were a sitting in silence, waiting for whatever hell their captor had in mind for them when they arrived. Of the three though, when the door to their cell finally opened both Silver and August barely glanced up while Brandish jumped as a man who looked more 'beautiful' than any other she'd ever seen walked in, even though he was covered in bright red fur.
As they looked up at him though neither August or Silver showed any major reactions, except for the former saying,
"I'll assume you're this so-called 'Dragon Emperor' I heard about, though you remind more of a monkey than a dragon..." Alex smirked at August's inquiry, but instead of answering it he said to them,
"The Dark Emperor is dead." In an instant all three tensed up, while Silver uttered,
"What...?" Alex nodded before he did the same thing he had done in Irene's cell and conjured a chair to sit on, before continuing,
"So are the generals, three by my hand, and one by my wife's." The trio gaped at Alex as he revealed that those who had practically ruled the world were now dead, before he continued,
"Now I have an offer for the three of you."
***
Back in her cell, after who knew how many hours, Irene awoke feeling more refreshed than she had in centuries.
"T-that can't be...?" She muttered in confusion, as, ever since she had begun turning into a dragon more than four centuries prior, she had never gotten a single wink of sleep. It was then that she noticed an amazing smell wafting though her cell, drawing her attention to the plate of steaming food sitting nearby.
"What is this?" She asked out loud as the mouth watering aroma filled her nostrils. However she fought the urge to dig into the food, as another part of being a dragon was not being able to taste anything.
However as the amazing smell continued to assault her nose Irene's will crumbled as she reluctantly grabbed an apple and took a bite. As she bit into the flesh of the red fruit though, Irene's eyes widened as sweet juice ran into her mouth, before flowing down her throat as she instinctively swallowed.
For several seconds Irene just stood there still as a statue as she savored the first thing she had tasted in four hundred years, before she took several more ravenous bites out of the Apple. When all that was left was the core, she immediately turned her attention to the plate of still steaming food on the table, which had a large juicy looking steak with a couple buttery rolls.
Practically tearing a chunk of the steak off instead of cutting it with the knife she had been given, Irene hurriedly put it in her mouth only to close her eyes as the taste of gristle, meat, and fat danced across her tongue. Instead of ravenously devouring it like she had the apple though, Irene closed her eyes as she savored the taste of the meat, before a stream of tears began to run down her face.
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Back when the Earth was first created, and the other worlds such as the Underworld and Heaven came into existence, a seemingly infinite space between these different worlds also came into existence, the Dimensional Gap. A place not unlike space where most life forms would be unable to survive direct exposure to for prolonged periods of time without protection, except for one being.
As time passed the void that was the Dimensional Gap spawned an entity unlike any other in the world's that were connected to it, a being that embodied the concept of 'infinity' while taking the form of some of the most powerful beings that existed in the other worlds, the Ouroboros Dragon, Ophis.
For endless years Ophis wandered the Gap aimlessly, innocent and curious about everything around it, until the day it decided to enter one of the world's connected to the Gap. There, it encountered the only ever living beings it had seen besides itself, as well as others that were like it, dragons.
Compared to the rest of the great beasts though Opis was unconditionally the strongest, which led to it being recognized as the God of all dragons. However, unlike others gods who were actively worshipped, Ophis's position was more of a matter of respect and status than anything else. Using its status, Ophis eventually established the rankings of the two Heavenly Dragons and the five Dragon Kings, dragons who were more powerful than the majority of their brethren.
Regardless of how much time it spent around the beings of earth however, or what form it took amongst them, Ophis had constantly been regarded with a mixture of fear, and respect. Many treated it like a bomb that was about to go off at any given moment, destroying everything around it before going on it's way.
Eventually it had made the decision to return to the place that had birthed it, the Dimensional Gap, but something else had already made it it's home, Great Red.
Around the time that Ophis had again changed their form to that of a young girl, she also created an organization designed to help her deal with Great Red before she could return to her home for the silence she had grown to d.e.s.i.r.e, the Khaos Brigade. With exiled Devils, magicians, and humans bearing Sacred Gears filling its ranks, the organization became feared by every major faction almost overnight due mostly because of her backing.
However, despite the Devils being powered up by her and possessing the descendants of the former Maou in their ranks, despite the humans who called themselves Heroes possessing numerous Longinus Sacred Gears and the blood of heroes of the past, and the collected knowledge of the mages association, the Khaos Brigade was experiencing setbacks in almost all of their endeavors by either one of two people, the Heavenly Dragons.
As she continued hearing about them, Ophis couldn't help but to become increasingly interested in the current possessors of Albion, the Vanishing Dragon, and especially Ddraig, the Welsh Dragon. When she finally did meet the one who currently possessed Ddraig though, Ophis had been surprised when he didn't seem to fear her.
At first she was simply curious about him, but as time went on Ophis grew to like Alex's company since he always gave her snacks and didn't treat her like something to feared. Then, after he even protected her from the one thing that could harm her, Samuel, he brought her to the place he called 'Asora'.
In a word, she considered Asora to be 'amazing' as it was untouched by anything or anyone, a perfect Eden where she wouldn't be surrounded by the fear of others, for a time. Eventually Alex began bringing more people into Asora along with Gabriel, Yasaka, Barakiel, and Serafall.
At first the people that were making Asora into their new home regarded her with the same fear and wariness as everyone else, while also threatening to devolve into fighting amongst themselves due to their past as Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels. Then, something unusual happened.
Gabriel, Yasaka, Serafall, and Barakiel all reminded their people of the things they'd lost due to their fighting, and why it was that they came to Asora to begin with, leading to their respective people reluctantly putting down their weapons to build their new home. Overnight an entire forest of Asora had been cleared, and in its place was enough modern buildings to house the hundreds of new inhabitants.
What surprised Ophis though was that one of the first places to be built after their own homes was a building dedicated to her, her first ever shrine. It was almost immediately after that something else happened that had never happened to her before, a devil woman visited her with her young son, and some fresh cake she had just made.
Despite the woman's nervousness, Ophis accepted the cake and ate it right in front of her before telling her it was delicious, making the devil woman almost faint in relief. However, the most shocking thing to occur happened after she finished eating the cake, and the young devil boy innocently asked Ophis if she wanted to play, since they looked similar in age physically. From that point on her life once again changed drastically.
With the children not having the same apprehension as their parents regarding the world's undisputed strongest being, they quickly warmed up to Ophis and would regularly come see her to play. And then, as the days slipped by without incident, the others too began to relax around Ophis as they occasionally brought her 'offerings', which they quickly learned that Ophis had quite the sweet tooth. Soon the 'offerings' started coming daily, and as they brought them the people would genuinely smile at her as they asked how her day was going.
With everyone warming up to her, and Alex considering her their last line of defense of Asora was ever attacked, Ophis was soon regarded by many to essentially be the Guardian Deity of Asora, a role she readily accepted.
Though Alex had explained to her how fighting was bad, which she had in turn said to Crom Cruach when he requested a fight with her, he had also told her how fighting to protect those you had grown to care about was good. With everyone in Asora essentially becoming her 'friends', Ophis would readily fight if someone managed to get in that would harm them.
Or so she thought.
When Alex had only been gone for a few days to explore whatever new world they were in, a stranger had intruded into Asora, and Ophis had never even noticed. She never noticed him entering their world. She never noticed him as he blatantly wandered around their home unchecked. And she never even noticed as he took one of Alex's children, and left with her in his arms.
When the realization that all of this had happened on 'her watch', a feeling unlike anything Ophis had ever experienced filled her, and she even began leaking a little bit of fluid from her eyes. It had even taken everything she had not to participate in the battle to wipe out Darius's forces, as then she wouldn't actually be fighting to 'protect'.
Even now, when Edith was safely brought home and Alex had returned, sitting in his kitchen, despite the happy atmosphere around her Ophis was still filled with the same feeling she had felt before. This time however, seeing Alex face to face, the feeling felt even worse right up until Alex asked her,
"What's wrong Ophis?"
Looking up at Alex, the feeling grew as all that escaped her lips was three words,
"I failed Alex..."
Panic immediately seized Alex's mind when the petite dragon God looked as if she was going to burst into tears any second, making his previous happy mood evaporate in an instant as he tried to console her.
"What?! Not at all! Why do you think you failed me?" By this point tears really did start forming at the corners of Ophis's eyes as she said,
"I was supposed to protect Asora, to protect Alex's family, and I failed..." As she trailed off Alex hurriedly grabbed some paper towels to wipe away Ophis's tears as he said,
"No you didn't! The man this time was someone who had a stupid ability, there was no way you could have known he was here unless he intentionally made himself known." Rather than being consoled by his words though, Ophis shook her head and said,
"But I am Ophis, infinite God of dragons. I should have been able to tell he was here...!" With her saying much more than she usually would, Alex tried to think of something to reassure her when Ophis suddenly added,
"I will get stronger...!" Everyone except the children stopped what they were doing and looked at Ophis in surprise at her declaration as the petite dragon God turned and left the kitchen with a resolute expression on her face, before leaving the manor altogether and taking flight into the sky and space beyond.
While everyone else was trying wrap their heads around the terrifying idea of Ophis becoming even more powerful, Alex felt a chill go down his spine.
TECHNICALLY, as a deity representing the concept of infinity, Ophis SHOULD have been at least as powerful as the Omni-King from Dragon Ball Super, if not even more so. However, for reasons unknown, that didn't seem to be the case.
The only reasonable answer Alex had been able to come up with during the occasional times he thought about this, was that since the scale of power between DXD and DBS were so drastically different, Ophis had been severely nerfed since a being capable of wiping out entire universes wasn't necessary to the plot of DXD. Another way to phrase or think about it was that since Ophis had never even considered using so much power, due to everyone in DXD being so much weaker than her, she had never even tried to push her abilities to see how far they could go.
Regardless of the reason though, Ophis wanting to try and become more powerful was a very terrifying thought. Everyone had yet to wrap their heads around it when Barakiel made his appearance, and was going to ask what was up with Ophis when he caught sight of Alex.
"What the hell happened to your face?!" He exclaimed loudly, to which Alex looked up and immediately shot back,
"What the hell happened to yours?" Though he wasn't actually referring to anything on Barakiel's face, the fallen angel paled as he quickly reached up and rubbed a particular spot, before grabbing a nearby spoon and using it to look at his reflection.
Seeing that Ririko hadn't left a mark like he feared, Barakiel sighed in relief before looking up to see everyone deadpanning at him.
"What?" He asked defensively, before a chill suddenly ran down his spine this time.
"Ara ara, father, are things really getting so intense between you and miss Ririko? I wonder when you will give me a baby sister? Ah! But then I might end up having to share my husband with her in the future. Hmmmm..." While Akeno was thinking on what she said, Alex's brow twitched at what she just implied, but before he could say anything Barakiel roared,
"THERES NO WAY! Even we end up having a daughter together I'll never allow her to be with HIM as well! Besides, for all we know, when we finally do get to that point Kagome and I could end up having a boy." As he said that a peculiar look showed itself on Barakiel's face as he pictured having a son this time, before Moka muttered out loud,
"Aren't all lamia women though?" In an instant all of Barakiel's earlier thoughts vanished as this one point echoed within his head, that chances were his and Ririko's child would probably be a lamia like her mother.
As Barakiel despaired, and the women gave him looks of pity, Alex couldn't help but internally remark, 'why's it already assumed that I'd just take any other daughters Barakiel might have as well?'
'...'
With both Ddraig and Lauren choosing to remain silent at Alex's internal question, he decided to ignore it and instead ask out loud,
"So what brings you here Barakiel?" Looking up at his name, Barakiel gave one last sniffle before switching to his professional mode and saying as he stood up,
"Along with seeing Shuri, I came to give you a report and check up on you since you used the Boosted Gear and your transformation at the same time. So, how are you feeling?" Though he was momentarily surprised that Barakiel would come to check up on him, Alex quickly answered,
"I feel fine, really." Though he was genuinely fine, everyone gave him a skeptic look before Barakiel said,
"Well I brought someone to give you a once over just in case." As if they had been waiting for their cue, Mikado, Tearju, and Oshizu all walked in with the former dressed like a doctor, while the latter two were dressed like nurses.
"D-do we really have to wear these?" Tearju asked with a red face as she desperately tried to pull the short nurses skirt down further, to which Mikado replied with a smile,
"No, but I think Alex would enjoy them a bit more than your usual clothes, don't you think?" Tearju's face became even redder when she heard Mikado's reasoning, and even noticed Alex appraising the three of them without even trying to hide his wandering eyes.
CHOP
"No l.e.w.ding Tear." Yami said suddenly as her hair came alive and chopped down onto Alex's head, making him look at her incredulously since he hadn't been the one to make Tearju wear such a thing. Before he could say anything though, Mikado cut him off by saying,
"Alright then! Now can you remove your shirt Alex and take a seat on that stool next to you?" As she asked him to remove his shirt Mikado produced a few medical instruments from the handbag she had been carrying, seemingly intent on doing the examination right there in the kitchen.
The examination then proceeded about how one would expect, Mikado used her instruments to check on the various parts of Alex's body, such as his breathing and heartbeat, while he openly flirted with her, Oshizu, and even Tearju despite Yami's piercing glare. Meanwhile, off to the side, the children were still eating their breakfast as they watched their father with interest, until Remia hastened them so they could get ready to go outside.
Eventually the examination ended with Mikado using a specially made machine to measure Alex's internal energies, before drawing a small vial of blood to examine later.
"That about does it, he really is perfectly healthy." Mikado finally said after finishing everything up, to which everyone who was still there let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that they didn't trust Alex when he said he was alright, but it was always better to have the word of a professional.
Meanwhile the man himself was simply smiling wryly as he said, "I told you all before, the SSJ4 transformation is fundamentally different than the others so there was no need to worry." Barakiel looked thoughtful when Alex said this, before asking,
"How exactly is it different though?" Rather than refuting what Alex was saying though, Barakiel was simply curious about what made this form so special compared to the others, especially since it was obviously much more powerful. It was at that moment that the red gauntlet appeared on Alex left arm, and Ddraig's voice sounded out,
Everyone listened intently as Ddraig explained how the previous three SSJ forms were based around using Alex's own energy to fuel his increase in strength, which followed the same principle of the Boosted Gear. Basically, when Alex used both he was over saturating his body in energy so much that it would cause the side effects in his body, such as the Boosted Gear being unusable for a time. Meanwhile, the SSJ4 transformation was a direct physical transformation while also increasing his energy, making the form much easier to maintain, train, and even allowing Alex to use the Boosted Gear while it was active.
After listening to his explanation, Mikado then asked what was everyone else's minds, "Can you show me the transformation?" As she had spent the night using her medical expertise to help those who needed it on Earthland, Mikado hadn't witnessed Alex's transformation during his fight with Darius, or his transition back when he returned.
With everyone else looking at him expectantly, Alex smiled wryly before closing his eyes and focusing his energy.
(A.N. Before people started mentioning it, I'm not including the full moon requirements for the SSj4 since most characters that had it seemed to bypass it in some way(I mean what was the point of a restriction if it didn't apply to anyone?), and since someone brought it up before I'm not doing the whole 'SSJ4 transformation creates pants for the user', because I'm fairly certain that was just so the creators wouldn't have to deal with characters being n.a.k.e.d after the Golden Oozaru transformation.)
Everyone watched with bated breath as Alex's body began to radiate a massive amount of energy before his black hair started to grow longer and even darker, and a layer of bright red fur began to grow all over his body. While that was happening, surprising those who hadn't seen it before, Alex's body also started to grow in size until he was several inches taller, and his muscles were much more defined.
The stool Alex was sitting on even started groaning as his size increased, along with apparently his weight. Though he was worried that it wouldn't hold, thankfully the stool never collapsed under Alex as his size and weight stopped increasing.
By the time the transformation was over, Alex opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him in awe, from both the power radiating from his body, and his physical appearance. Smirking at them, he then asked in a gruff voice,
"What? Cat got your tongue?" Startling them out of their reverie, Mikado directly started looking Alex up and down before saying,
"Interesting, on top of growing larger you also seem to have become a lot more dense and heavier as well..." Mikado trailed off as she began to look over Alex's body with a professional gaze, before she began to lightly tap Alex's c.h.e.s.t and arms to test the firmness.
She then retrieved some of the same instruments she had already put away to test for any other differences in Alex's body, ranging from things like muscle and bone density, to his new height and weight. She had even attempted to draw some more blood to try and do a before and after comparison, but the needle broke as she tried to insert it.
As Mikado was finishing up her examination, Barakiel then asked,
"Could you also come to the Grigori institute later? I want to show you the maps after your new transformations influenced Asora last night, and we could probably also do some performance tests regarding your new form." After a moment of consideration Alex nodded and said,
"Sure, I have a few different things that I want to test as well so that works for me. But I also have some things I need to take care of today as well so we'll have to do it later."
With all of the prisoners they had acquired from being on 'the list', Alex wanted to go and try to talk to them at some point that day before they started getting the wrong idea about why they had been captured. He also needed to pay Hajime a visit to discuss his progress with the gates to other worlds, since that copycat made Alex slightly anxious to return to DXD.
The moment he thought about Hajime though, Alex's consciousness brought him to the man in question, who was currently busy banging his two wives. Acting as if he hadn't just witnessed Kaori's bouncing t.i.t.s or Yuuka bent over with her cheeks spread, Alex kept a straight face as he stood and departed to start working on the things he mentioned, while the rest of the women went to work on their own duties as well.
While they weren't directly repairing the damage done to the various countries and cities of Earthland by Darius and his followers, Anne was still ensuring that the people were fit enough and had the basic necessities needed to rebuild their lives. The actual rebuilding would have to be done by them though, like the people of Hargeon, who had already began opening what few businesses they could and building new sh.i.p.s to use for fishing.
Meanwhile Mikado and Kurumu had gone to Natsu and Gajeel to try and undo the damage done by Alice while they were her toys. Though her influence might have disappeared after her death, they still recalled everything that had happened while they had been held prisoner by her.
Alex on the other hand headed straight to their prisons, complexes underground where they could seal the powers of those within and even manipulate the time inside if they wished. This had been useful for prisoners like Cattleya, where the idea had been to break her over a long period of time without actually waiting for her to break. The reverse was also possible though where they could set the time in someone's cell to go really slow.
This time however neither of these were being used since everyone they imprisoned were those Alex intended to try and give a second chance. Opening the door and entering the first cell he arrived to, Alex found a beautiful and m.a.t.u.r.e scarlet haired woman glaring at him, Irene Belserion.
"What do you want?" Irene demanded testily after Alex closed the cell door behind him, locking the two of them in together.
Instead of appearing annoyed at her attitude though, Alex simply conjured a chair to sit in across from her before finally saying,
"I want to make you an offer Irene, working for me here in Asora." Irene's brow twitched when she heard Alex's offer, before she spat at him,
"And why exactly would I want to accept that offer?" Alex simply shrugged at her her before saying,
"I don't know, maybe because I can revert you to being a human instead of a dragon, because I can give you access to magics and artifacts the likes of which you've never, seen, I have your own daughter with me, and the fact that even if you don't accept I can simply mark you as my slave and make you work for me regardless."
Irene gapped at Alex as he finished his list of reasons for her work for him, all of which she ignored except for one.
"And why exactly should I care that that useless failure is here?" She asked as she turned up her nose to him, making Alex's brow twitch in irritation for how she talking about her own daughter despite knowing she didn't actually mean it.
Irene carried the unborn Erza within her for over four hundred years before finally giving birth to her, with the intention of transplanting her own consciousness into Erza's body. When the time came though, she had been unable to bring herself to erase the tiny existence that she had carried for so long.
When the two of them fought in the original series though, Irene had repeatedly told Erza that she was a 'failure' with no capacity for enchantments, and that had been the reason she abandoned her. Now however Erza already knew the truth, as well as Alex, so no matter how much Irene tried to convince him she didn't care about her daughter, he didn't buy it.
That was why, instead of trying to convince her, he simply stood and said,
"I'll let you sleep on it." Irene opened her mouth to tell him something offensive since she couldn't sleep, but before she could her consciousness suddenly went dark as Alex used Spirit magic to put her to sleep.
Instead of collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut though, Alex used his 'Telekinesis' to lift her body into the air, before he began to channel Alteration and Regeneration magic onto her.
***
In another cell three other people were imprisoned as they awaited their captors to come and speak to them, Silver Fullbuster, August Dragneel, and Brandish.
The trio were a sitting in silence, waiting for whatever hell their captor had in mind for them when they arrived. Of the three though, when the door to their cell finally opened both Silver and August barely glanced up while Brandish jumped as a man who looked more 'beautiful' than any other she'd ever seen walked in, even though he was covered in bright red fur.
As they looked up at him though neither August or Silver showed any major reactions, except for the former saying,
"I'll assume you're this so-called 'Dragon Emperor' I heard about, though you remind more of a monkey than a dragon..." Alex smirked at August's inquiry, but instead of answering it he said to them,
"The Dark Emperor is dead." In an instant all three tensed up, while Silver uttered,
"What...?" Alex nodded before he did the same thing he had done in Irene's cell and conjured a chair to sit on, before continuing,
"So are the generals, three by my hand, and one by my wife's." The trio gaped at Alex as he revealed that those who had practically ruled the world were now dead, before he continued,
"Now I have an offer for the three of you."
***
Back in her cell, after who knew how many hours, Irene awoke feeling more refreshed than she had in centuries.
"T-that can't be...?" She muttered in confusion, as, ever since she had begun turning into a dragon more than four centuries prior, she had never gotten a single wink of sleep. It was then that she noticed an amazing smell wafting though her cell, drawing her attention to the plate of steaming food sitting nearby.
"What is this?" She asked out loud as the mouth watering aroma filled her nostrils. However she fought the urge to dig into the food, as another part of being a dragon was not being able to taste anything.
However as the amazing smell continued to assault her nose Irene's will crumbled as she reluctantly grabbed an apple and took a bite. As she bit into the flesh of the red fruit though, Irene's eyes widened as sweet juice ran into her mouth, before flowing down her throat as she instinctively swallowed.
For several seconds Irene just stood there still as a statue as she savored the first thing she had tasted in four hundred years, before she took several more ravenous bites out of the Apple. When all that was left was the core, she immediately turned her attention to the plate of still steaming food on the table, which had a large juicy looking steak with a couple buttery rolls.
Practically tearing a chunk of the steak off instead of cutting it with the knife she had been given, Irene hurriedly put it in her mouth only to close her eyes as the taste of gristle, meat, and fat danced across her tongue. Instead of ravenously devouring it like she had the apple though, Irene closed her eyes as she savored the taste of the meat, before a stream of tears began to run down her face.
Back when the Earth was first created, and the other worlds such as the Underworld and Heaven came into existence, a seemingly infinite space between these different worlds also came into existence, the Dimensional Gap. A place not unlike space where most life forms would be unable to survive direct exposure to for prolonged periods of time without protection, except for one being. As time passed the void that was the Dimensional Gap spawned an entity unlike any other in the world's that were connected to it, a being that embodied the concept of 'infinity' while taking the form of some of the most powerful beings that existed in the other worlds, the Ouroboros Dragon, Ophis. For endless years Ophis wandered the Gap aimlessly, innocent and curious about everything around it, until the day it decided to enter one of the world's connected to the Gap. There, it encountered the only ever living beings it had seen besides itself, as well as others that were like it, dragons. Compared to the rest of the great beasts though Opis was unconditionally the strongest, which led to it being recognized as the God of all dragons. However, unlike others gods who were actively worshipped, Ophis's position was more of a matter of respect and status than anything else. Using its status, Ophis eventually established the rankings of the two Heavenly Dragons and the five Dragon Kings, dragons who were more powerful than the majority of their brethren. Regardless of how much time it spent around the beings of earth however, or what form it took amongst them, Ophis had constantly been regarded with a mixture of fear, and respect. Many treated it like a bomb that was about to go off at any given moment, destroying everything around it before going on it's way. Eventually it had made the decision to return to the place that had birthed it, the Dimensional Gap, but something else had already made it it's home, Great Red. Around the time that Ophis had again changed their form to that of a young girl, she also created an organization designed to help her deal with Great Red before she could return to her home for the silence she had grown to d.e.s.i.r.e, the Khaos Brigade. With exiled Devils, magicians, and humans bearing Sacred Gears filling its ranks, the organization became feared by every major faction almost overnight due mostly because of her backing. However, despite the Devils being powered up by her and possessing the descendants of the former Maou in their ranks, despite the humans who called themselves Heroes possessing numerous Longinus Sacred Gears and the blood of heroes of the past, and the collected knowledge of the mages association, the Khaos Brigade was experiencing setbacks in almost all of their endeavors by either one of two people, the Heavenly Dragons. As she continued hearing about them, Ophis couldn't help but to become increasingly interested in the current possessors of Albion, the Vanishing Dragon, and especially Ddraig, the Welsh Dragon. When she finally did meet the one who currently possessed Ddraig though, Ophis had been surprised when he didn't seem to fear her. At first she was simply curious about him, but as time went on Ophis grew to like Alex's company since he always gave her snacks and didn't treat her like something to feared. Then, after he even protected her from the one thing that could harm her, Samuel, he brought her to the place he called 'Asora'. In a word, she considered Asora to be 'amazing' as it was untouched by anything or anyone, a perfect Eden where she wouldn't be surrounded by the fear of others, for a time. Eventually Alex began bringing more people into Asora along with Gabriel, Yasaka, Barakiel, and Serafall. At first the people that were making Asora into their new home regarded her with the same fear and wariness as everyone else, while also threatening to devolve into fighting amongst themselves due to their past as Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels. Then, something unusual happened. Gabriel, Yasaka, Serafall, and Barakiel all reminded their people of the things they'd lost due to their fighting, and why it was that they came to Asora to begin with, leading to their respective people reluctantly putting down their weapons to build their new home. Overnight an entire forest of Asora had been cleared, and in its place was enough modern buildings to house the hundreds of new inhabitants. What surprised Ophis though was that one of the first places to be built after their own homes was a building dedicated to her, her first ever shrine. It was almost immediately after that something else happened that had never happened to her before, a devil woman visited her with her young son, and some fresh cake she had just made. Despite the woman's nervousness, Ophis accepted the cake and ate it right in front of her before telling her it was delicious, making the devil woman almost faint in relief. However, the most shocking thing to occur happened after she finished eating the cake, and the young devil boy innocently asked Ophis if she wanted to play, since they looked similar in age physically. From that point on her life once again changed drastically. With the children not having the same apprehension as their parents regarding the world's undisputed strongest being, they quickly warmed up to Ophis and would regularly come see her to play. And then, as the days slipped by without incident, the others too began to relax around Ophis as they occasionally brought her 'offerings', which they quickly learned that Ophis had quite the sweet tooth. Soon the 'offerings' started coming daily, and as they brought them the people would genuinely smile at her as they asked how her day was going. With everyone warming up to her, and Alex considering her their last line of defense of Asora was ever attacked, Ophis was soon regarded by many to essentially be the Guardian Deity of Asora, a role she readily accepted. Though Alex had explained to her how fighting was bad, which she had in turn said to Crom Cruach when he requested a fight with her, he had also told her how fighting to protect those you had grown to care about was good. With everyone in Asora essentially becoming her 'friends', Ophis would readily fight if someone managed to get in that would harm them. Or so she thought. When Alex had only been gone for a few days to explore whatever new world they were in, a stranger had intruded into Asora, and Ophis had never even noticed. She never noticed him entering their world. She never noticed him as he blatantly wandered around their home unchecked. And she never even noticed as he took one of Alex's children, and left with her in his arms. When the realization that all of this had happened on 'her watch', a feeling unlike anything Ophis had ever experienced filled her, and she even began leaking a little bit of fluid from her eyes. It had even taken everything she had not to participate in the battle to wipe out Darius's forces, as then she wouldn't actually be fighting to 'protect'. Even now, when Edith was safely brought home and Alex had returned, sitting in his kitchen, despite the happy atmosphere around her Ophis was still filled with the same feeling she had felt before. This time however, seeing Alex face to face, the feeling felt even worse right up until Alex asked her, "What's wrong Ophis?" Looking up at Alex, the feeling grew as all that escaped her lips was three words, "I failed Alex..." Panic immediately seized Alex's mind when the petite dragon God looked as if she was going to burst into tears any second, making his previous happy mood evaporate in an instant as he tried to console her. "What?! Not at all! Why do you think you failed me?" By this point tears really did start forming at the corners of Ophis's eyes as she said, "I was supposed to protect Asora, to protect Alex's family, and I failed..." As she trailed off Alex hurriedly grabbed some paper towels to wipe away Ophis's tears as he said, "No you didn't! The man this time was someone who had a stupid ability, there was no way you could have known he was here unless he intentionally made himself known." Rather than being consoled by his words though, Ophis shook her head and said, "But I am Ophis, infinite God of dragons. I should have been able to tell he was here...!" With her saying much more than she usually would, Alex tried to think of something to reassure her when Ophis suddenly added, "I will get stronger...!" Everyone except the children stopped what they were doing and looked at Ophis in surprise at her declaration as the petite dragon God turned and left the kitchen with a resolute expression on her face, before leaving the manor altogether and taking flight into the sky and space beyond. While everyone else was trying wrap their heads around the terrifying idea of Ophis becoming even more powerful, Alex felt a chill go down his spine. TECHNICALLY, as a deity representing the concept of infinity, Ophis SHOULD have been at least as powerful as the Omni-King from Dragon Ball Super, if not even more so. However, for reasons unknown, that didn't seem to be the case. The only reasonable answer Alex had been able to come up with during the occasional times he thought about this, was that since the scale of power between DXD and DBS were so drastically different, Ophis had been severely nerfed since a being capable of wiping out entire universes wasn't necessary to the plot of DXD. Another way to phrase or think about it was that since Ophis had never even considered using so much power, due to everyone in DXD being so much weaker than her, she had never even tried to push her abilities to see how far they could go. Regardless of the reason though, Ophis wanting to try and become more powerful was a very terrifying thought. Everyone had yet to wrap their heads around it when Barakiel made his appearance, and was going to ask what was up with Ophis when he caught sight of Alex. "What the hell happened to your face?!" He exclaimed loudly, to which Alex looked up and immediately shot back, "What the hell happened to yours?" Though he wasn't actually referring to anything on Barakiel's face, the fallen angel paled as he quickly reached up and rubbed a particular spot, before grabbing a nearby spoon and using it to look at his reflection. Seeing that Ririko hadn't left a mark like he feared, Barakiel sighed in relief before looking up to see everyone deadpanning at him. "What?" He asked defensively, before a chill suddenly ran down his spine this time. "Ara ara, father, are things really getting so intense between you and miss Ririko? I wonder when you will give me a baby sister? Ah! But then I might end up having to share my husband with her in the future. Hmmmm..." While Akeno was thinking on what she said, Alex's brow twitched at what she just implied, but before he could say anything Barakiel roared, "THERES NO WAY! Even we end up having a daughter together I'll never allow her to be with HIM as well! Besides, for all we know, when we finally do get to that point Kagome and I could end up having a boy." As he said that a peculiar look showed itself on Barakiel's face as he pictured having a son this time, before Moka muttered out loud, "Aren't all lamia women though?" In an instant all of Barakiel's earlier thoughts vanished as this one point echoed within his head, that chances were his and Ririko's child would probably be a lamia like her mother. As Barakiel despaired, and the women gave him looks of pity, Alex couldn't help but internally remark, 'why's it already assumed that I'd just take any other daughters Barakiel might have as well?' '...' With both Ddraig and Lauren choosing to remain silent at Alex's internal question, he decided to ignore it and instead ask out loud, "So what brings you here Barakiel?" Looking up at his name, Barakiel gave one last sniffle before switching to his professional mode and saying as he stood up, "Along with seeing Shuri, I came to give you a report and check up on you since you used the Boosted Gear and your transformation at the same time. So, how are you feeling?" Though he was momentarily surprised that Barakiel would come to check up on him, Alex quickly answered, "I feel fine, really." Though he was genuinely fine, everyone gave him a skeptic look before Barakiel said, "Well I brought someone to give you a once over just in case." As if they had been waiting for their cue, Mikado, Tearju, and Oshizu all walked in with the former dressed like a doctor, while the latter two were dressed like nurses. "D-do we really have to wear these?" Tearju asked with a red face as she desperately tried to pull the short nurses skirt down further, to which Mikado replied with a smile, "No, but I think Alex would enjoy them a bit more than your usual clothes, don't you think?" Tearju's face became even redder when she heard Mikado's reasoning, and even noticed Alex appraising the three of them without even trying to hide his wandering eyes. CHOP "No l.e.w.ding Tear." Yami said suddenly as her hair came alive and chopped down onto Alex's head, making him look at her incredulously since he hadn't been the one to make Tearju wear such a thing. Before he could say anything though, Mikado cut him off by saying, "Alright then! Now can you remove your shirt Alex and take a seat on that stool next to you?" As she asked him to remove his shirt Mikado produced a few medical instruments from the handbag she had been carrying, seemingly intent on doing the examination right there in the kitchen. The examination then proceeded about how one would expect, Mikado used her instruments to check on the various parts of Alex's body, such as his breathing and heartbeat, while he openly flirted with her, Oshizu, and even Tearju despite Yami's piercing glare. Meanwhile, off to the side, the children were still eating their breakfast as they watched their father with interest, until Remia hastened them so they could get ready to go outside. Eventually the examination ended with Mikado using a specially made machine to measure Alex's internal energies, before drawing a small vial of blood to examine later. "That about does it, he really is perfectly healthy." Mikado finally said after finishing everything up, to which everyone who was still there let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that they didn't trust Alex when he said he was alright, but it was always better to have the word of a professional. Meanwhile the man himself was simply smiling wryly as he said, "I told you all before, the SSJ4 transformation is fundamentally different than the others so there was no need to worry." Barakiel looked thoughtful when Alex said this, before asking, "How exactly is it different though?" Rather than refuting what Alex was saying though, Barakiel was simply curious about what made this form so special compared to the others, especially since it was obviously much more powerful. It was at that moment that the red gauntlet appeared on Alex left arm, and Ddraig's voice sounded out, Everyone listened intently as Ddraig explained how the previous three SSJ forms were based around using Alex's own energy to fuel his increase in strength, which followed the same principle of the Boosted Gear. Basically, when Alex used both he was over saturating his body in energy so much that it would cause the side effects in his body, such as the Boosted Gear being unusable for a time. Meanwhile, the SSJ4 transformation was a direct physical transformation while also increasing his energy, making the form much easier to maintain, train, and even allowing Alex to use the Boosted Gear while it was active. After listening to his explanation, Mikado then asked what was everyone else's minds, "Can you show me the transformation?" As she had spent the night using her medical expertise to help those who needed it on Earthland, Mikado hadn't witnessed Alex's transformation during his fight with Darius, or his transition back when he returned. With everyone else looking at him expectantly, Alex smiled wryly before closing his eyes and focusing his energy. A.N. Before people started mentioning it, I'm not including the full moon requirements for the SSj4 since most characters that had it seemed to bypass it in some wayI mean what was the point of a restriction if it didn't apply to anyone?, and since someone brought it up before I'm not doing the whole 'SSJ4 transformation creates pants for the user', because I'm fairly certain that was just so the creators wouldn't have to deal with characters being n.a.k.e.d after the Golden Oozaru transformation. Everyone watched with bated breath as Alex's body began to radiate a massive amount of energy before his black hair started to grow longer and even darker, and a layer of bright red fur began to grow all over his body. While that was happening, surprising those who hadn't seen it before, Alex's body also started to grow in size until he was several inches taller, and his muscles were much more defined. The stool Alex was sitting on even started groaning as his size increased, along with apparently his weight. Though he was worried that it wouldn't hold, thankfully the stool never collapsed under Alex as his size and weight stopped increasing. By the time the transformation was over, Alex opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him in awe, from both the power radiating from his body, and his physical appearance. Smirking at them, he then asked in a gruff voice, "What? Cat got your tongue?" Startling them out of their reverie, Mikado directly started looking Alex up and down before saying, "Interesting, on top of growing larger you also seem to have become a lot more dense and heavier as well..." Mikado trailed off as she began to look over Alex's body with a professional gaze, before she began to lightly tap Alex's c.h.e.s.t and arms to test the firmness. She then retrieved some of the same instruments she had already put away to test for any other differences in Alex's body, ranging from things like muscle and bone density, to his new height and weight. She had even attempted to draw some more blood to try and do a before and after comparison, but the needle broke as she tried to insert it. As Mikado was finishing up her examination, Barakiel then asked, "Could you also come to the Grigori institute later? I want to show you the maps after your new transformations influenced Asora last night, and we could probably also do some performance tests regarding your new form." After a moment of consideration Alex nodded and said, "Sure, I have a few different things that I want to test as well so that works for me. But I also have some things I need to take care of today as well so we'll have to do it later." With all of the prisoners they had acquired from being on 'the list', Alex wanted to go and try to talk to them at some point that day before they started getting the wrong idea about why they had been captured. He also needed to pay Hajime a visit to discuss his progress with the gates to other worlds, since that copycat made Alex slightly anxious to return to DXD. The moment he thought about Hajime though, Alex's consciousness brought him to the man in question, who was currently busy banging his two wives. Acting as if he hadn't just witnessed Kaori's bouncing t.i.t.s or Yuuka bent over with her cheeks spread, Alex kept a straight face as he stood and departed to start working on the things he mentioned, while the rest of the women went to work on their own duties as well. While they weren't directly repairing the damage done to the various countries and cities of Earthland by Darius and his followers, Anne was still ensuring that the people were fit enough and had the basic necessities needed to rebuild their lives. The actual rebuilding would have to be done by them though, like the people of Hargeon, who had already began opening what few businesses they could and building new sh.i.p.s to use for fishing. Meanwhile Mikado and Kurumu had gone to Natsu and Gajeel to try and undo the damage done by Alice while they were her toys. Though her influence might have disappeared after her death, they still recalled everything that had happened while they had been held prisoner by her. Alex on the other hand headed straight to their prisons, complexes underground where they could seal the powers of those within and even manipulate the time inside if they wished. This had been useful for prisoners like Cattleya, where the idea had been to break her over a long period of time without actually waiting for her to break. The reverse was also possible though where they could set the time in someone's cell to go really slow. This time however neither of these were being used since everyone they imprisoned were those Alex intended to try and give a second chance. Opening the door and entering the first cell he arrived to, Alex found a beautiful and m.a.t.u.r.e scarlet haired woman glaring at him, Irene Belserion. "What do you want?" Irene demanded testily after Alex closed the cell door behind him, locking the two of them in together. Instead of appearing annoyed at her attitude though, Alex simply conjured a chair to sit in across from her before finally saying, "I want to make you an offer Irene, working for me here in Asora." Irene's brow twitched when she heard Alex's offer, before she spat at him, "And why exactly would I want to accept that offer?" Alex simply shrugged at her her before saying, "I don't know, maybe because I can revert you to being a human instead of a dragon, because I can give you access to magics and artifacts the likes of which you've never, seen, I have your own daughter with me, and the fact that even if you don't accept I can simply mark you as my slave and make you work for me regardless." Irene gapped at Alex as he finished his list of reasons for her work for him, all of which she ignored except for one. "And why exactly should I care that that useless failure is here?" She asked as she turned up her nose to him, making Alex's brow twitch in irritation for how she talking about her own daughter despite knowing she didn't actually mean it. Irene carried the unborn Erza within her for over four hundred years before finally giving birth to her, with the intention of transplanting her own consciousness into Erza's body. When the time came though, she had been unable to bring herself to erase the tiny existence that she had carried for so long. When the two of them fought in the original series though, Irene had repeatedly told Erza that she was a 'failure' with no capacity for enchantments, and that had been the reason she abandoned her. Now however Erza already knew the truth, as well as Alex, so no matter how much Irene tried to convince him she didn't care about her daughter, he didn't buy it. That was why, instead of trying to convince her, he simply stood and said, "I'll let you sleep on it." Irene opened her mouth to tell him something offensive since she couldn't sleep, but before she could her consciousness suddenly went dark as Alex used Spirit magic to put her to sleep. Instead of collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut though, Alex used his 'Telekinesis' to lift her body into the air, before he began to channel Alteration and Regeneration magic onto her. *** In another cell three other people were imprisoned as they awaited their captors to come and speak to them, Silver Fullbuster, August Dragneel, and Brandish. The trio were a sitting in silence, waiting for whatever hell their captor had in mind for them when they arrived. Of the three though, when the door to their cell finally opened both Silver and August barely glanced up while Brandish jumped as a man who looked more 'beautiful' than any other she'd ever seen walked in, even though he was covered in bright red fur. As they looked up at him though neither August or Silver showed any major reactions, except for the former saying, "I'll assume you're this so-called 'Dragon Emperor' I heard about, though you remind more of a monkey than a dragon..." Alex smirked at August's inquiry, but instead of answering it he said to them, "The Dark Emperor is dead." In an instant all three tensed up, while Silver uttered, "What...?" Alex nodded before he did the same thing he had done in Irene's cell and conjured a chair to sit on, before continuing, "So are the generals, three by my hand, and one by my wife's." The trio gaped at Alex as he revealed that those who had practically ruled the world were now dead, before he continued, "Now I have an offer for the three of you." *** Back in her cell, after who knew how many hours, Irene awoke feeling more refreshed than she had in centuries. "T-that can't be...?" She muttered in confusion, as, ever since she had begun turning into a dragon more than four centuries prior, she had never gotten a single wink of sleep. It was then that she noticed an amazing smell wafting though her cell, drawing her attention to the plate of steaming food sitting nearby. "What is this?" She asked out loud as the mouth watering aroma filled her nostrils. However she fought the urge to dig into the food, as another part of being a dragon was not being able to taste anything. However as the amazing smell continued to assault her nose Irene's will crumbled as she reluctantly grabbed an apple and took a bite. As she bit into the flesh of the red fruit though, Irene's eyes widened as sweet juice ran into her mouth, before flowing down her throat as she instinctively swallowed. For several seconds Irene just stood there still as a statue as she savored the first thing she had tasted in four hundred years, before she took several more ravenous bites out of the Apple. When all that was left was the core, she immediately turned her attention to the plate of still steaming food on the table, which had a large juicy looking steak with a couple buttery rolls. Practically tearing a chunk of the steak off instead of cutting it with the knife she had been given, Irene hurriedly put it in her mouth only to close her eyes as the taste of gristle, meat, and fat danced across her tongue. Instead of ravenously devouring it like she had the apple though, Irene closed her eyes as she savored the taste of the meat, before a stream of tears began to run down her face.
