The tension in the room increased as the two faced each other for several seconds, each waiting for the other to strike. The reason Kuroka hadn't attacked yet was that, similarly to Alex, she wanted to see what the three Dark Lords were capable of; while Touhou was acting cautiously after she had managed to defeat the entire Huang family singlehandedly, and wasn't even out of breath from it. After several tense seconds that seemed to stretch into hours, Touhou finally made the first move as he slammed his staff down and activated a trap he had placed while waiting for Kuroka to arrive earlier, the only reason he hadn't activated it yet being that he didn't want to alert her to it.
"Nya~ this looks interesting." Kuroka said casually as she dropped her fighting stance to examine the barrier that had formed around her. While she was doing that Touhou started preparing to fire a powerful magic attack while she was trapped within the barrier, but paused when he realized what she was doing, "Let's see here, move this like that, cancel that, then alter this..." He watched with dumbfoundment as she manipulated the workings of his own barrier from within itself, until it was finally forced to dissipate as she canceled it with a smile on her face.
"That's impossible..." Touhou muttered in disbelief, while Kuroka shrugged before responding,
"That was very interesting, even though it's a completely different brand of 'Youjutsu' than I know, it wasn't too hard to figure out." Touhou's disbelief only grew as he listened to her speak, as it wasn't an exaggeration to say he was the most skilled practitioner of 'Youjutsu' in the world, and the fact that Kuroka managed to easily tear apart one of the most powerful barriers he could create by changing it was unbelievable.
"Hmph!" He snorted, before finishing the preparation for his current attack while the cocky cat girl watched. "Let's see how you like this!" He declared, before firing a multi light beam attack that scattered to cover any escapes Kuroka might attempt. However, despite light being poisonous to Devils, Kuroka's smile never wavered as she used her mastery over Space to redirect the beams of light until they were returning back towards Touhou; who effortlessly eliminated them as they were his attack to begin with, even though he had put enough power into them to level a small city. With Kuroka effortlessly dealing with his 'Youjutsu' with her own unknown magic and skills, Touhou then swapped out his staff for a sword while several needles appeared in his other hand, his intent sharpening along with his weapons. Kuroka's smile widened as she held out her own hands, her claws sharpening at the tips of her fingers, before flickering at the same exact moment Touhou did.
CRASH!!!
The air itself vibrated with the intensity of their clash as Kuroka held back Touhou's sword with one hand, and used the other to deftly pick the needles he threw at her out of the air. At first Touhou smirked when he saw her handle the tips of the needles without any caution, but, when she showed no signs of being affected by the instantly acting poison that was applied, his smirk changed into a frown as he couldn't help but wonder what kind of monster he was fighting. With all of this taking place in mere seconds after his sword clashed with her claws, Touhou backed off before preparing for another strike with his sword, while also pulling out more needles with a different poison applied to the tip. Over and over the two clashed while causing an increasing amount of destruction to the building around them, and over and over Touhou tried various methods to try and subdue his opponent even as she matched him in speed and strength; wether it was any of the poisons he had on him, the various types of 'Youjutsu' he was capable of performing on the fly, or even just raw martial skill.
"I may have no choice but to use it..." Touhou muttered as he contemplated using one of his most powerful moves, the 'Jigen-Tou'. The reason he had yet to use it though, was because he had noticed Kuroka analyzing his moves and magic as if she was studying them, a thought that terrified him after he already watched her modify some of his magic attacks. With no other viable attacks to turn the fight into his favor though, Touhou tossed aside his weapons and straightened his hands out as if they were a pair of swords. Kuroka's eyes widened when she recognized Touhou using the form that Ling-Ling had used earlier, and she quickly spread out a magic circle at the base of her feet as Touhou lunged at her while declaring,
"How will you respond to this!?" The words were barely out of his mouth when he seemed to come to a standstill, along with everything else within the magic circle with the sole exception of Kuroka herself.
"Now let's see that interesting technique~Nya." She muttered to herself, as she stepped closer and started to inspect the magic Touhou was using to coat his hands. Kuroka quickly realized that, unlike Ling-Ling, Touhou was not only applying the magic to his own hands, but was even extending it past them like an invisible sword, one that can seemingly cut through anything. She also noticed that the magic itself seemed to be an application of Spatial magic that allowed ones hand to pass through solid objects, before moving in a motion similar to a saw as it "cut" the intended target. Though she was happy to make this discovery, Kuroka also felt like kicking herself since she didn't think of this as well, even though she was trying to obtain a divinity related to Space and Time. She spent several minutes examining Touhou's hand, as well as the magic extending from it, while the man himself was moving so slow he seemed to be standing still, yet his eyes were moving only the tiniest bit faster as he tried to follow her movements with them. Finally Kuroka clapped her hands together while saying, "I think I've got now~ Nya!", before releasing the time magic that bound Touhou in place, and sent him flying forward. Of course he managed to correct himself before he looked foolish, but Touhou didn't care and demanded,
"You can control Time as well?!!!" Kuroka shrugged at him before responding,
"I can only manipulate the flow of time and somewhat reverse it a little, it's not like I can travel through it or anything." Though Kuroka acted as if her ability to manipulate time wasn't that big of a deal, Touhou was having a little trouble breathing as he tried to imagine the power of the force he was fighting. The ability to manipulate time itself was nothing to sneeze at, with he himself being one of the only people in the world who could managed the feat, yet he wasn't even close to Kuroka in terms of ease and use. His attention was retaken by Kuroka as the cat girl raised her hands until they formed an X in front of her with her claws out, while she muttered,
"Let's see.... Something like this?" Though Touhou didn't know what she was trying to do, it was quickly made apparent as Kuroka applied Spatial magic to her her claws in a similar manner as his 'Jigen-Tou'. Kuroka felt her claws "lock" into place in midair, however as she slowly but surely moved them down in a clawing motion, both her and Touhou could see lines appearing in the walls around them as she cleanly cut them.
"NYAAAAAAAA!!!" She cried out as she slashed with both of her claws at once, cutting space itself along with her surroundings before several claw marks also appeared on the dumbfounded Touhou, who was both amazed and horrified at how his own technique was stolen and bastardized in this way. Meanwhile Kuroka was grinning like the Cheshire Cat as she seemed to effortlessly cut through everything around her like it was warm butter, while also restricting herself from killing Touhou with the attack, her mind already racing with the possibilities of this ability and what she might be able to do with it. Touhou on the other hand was bloody and laying on the ground as he looked at the surrounding devastation in awe, as Kuroka had cleanly sliced through everything at a far greater range than even he was capable of, even into the next room over, while also amazingly keeping enough control and precision to keep was cutting him into pieces, or hitting any instant kill spots.
"A-amazing...." He coughed out along with a mouthful of blood, as, even if she limited the damage he had taken, he was quite seriously injured, and didn't doubt his own impending death if he wasn't treated. "To think, the house of Huang would end this way...." He muttered while trying to keep his breath, before looking at Kuroka and continuing, "If this old man is to die, then please let him do so while being smothered in the ultimate softness..." As he spoke Kuroka's eyes narrowed, as it was obvious what he meant from the fact that he was staring right at, and was even going so far as to use the last of his strength to reach for, her breasts.
"I can't believe I'm doing this~Nya." Kuroka muttered, before she created another magic circle that spread out enough to encompass everyone, and every thing, that had been defeated or damaged by her, before time itself seemed to started rewinding as their wounds swiftly healed, and the damaged repaired itself as if it never happened. Soon everyone started waking up confusedly as they tried to figure out what happened, as the last thing any of them recalled was either being defeated, or turned to stone by the mysterious invader, though for some reason they also felt fairly exhausted when they woke up as well. This was because Kuroka was using their own energy to fuel the Regeneration magic since her own reserves were dropping fairly low, due to her slowing time for so long earlier draining them. One troubling aspect of the Age of Gods Magic was that it had a high magic power consumption rate, though this was practically negligible for Alex's servants, yet her own manipulation of Time magic consumed even more of her reserves than Age of Gods Magic did, leaving her nearly drained.
"What the.....?" Touhou muttered as he felt his own wounds closing themselves, as well as the power he had exhausted during their fight returning, due to Kuroka specifically restoring what he had used up during their fight since Alex didn't want him to die, yet. Kuroka then explained to answer his confusion,
"I'm using a type of Time magic to restore everything within the mansion to the point before the fight broke out~Nya. Like I said before, my master wants cooperation between us, not friction~Nya." Though he wanted to refute what she said, the fact that Kuroka even went as far as to heal everyone's wounds and repair the damage done to the mansion was proof enough of her groups good intentions. As such, he felt he had no choice but to follow her back to the dining room where his descendants were trying to make sense of what was happening(though he was in his old form again). Once Fei-Hong and Ten-Ten saw Kuroka however they both immediately took a stance as they prepared for round two, before Touhou stated,
"Knock it off you two, she's here to talk not fight; if that had been the case none of us would even still be alive." Though reluctantly, Fei-Hong and Ten-Ten backed down when they heard their great ancestor's words, however the tension never left their bodies as they stayed ready in case a fight broke out again. Though she noticed this, Kuroka didn't seem to care about them in the slightest as she helped herself to the seat at the head of the table, before also helping herself to some of the nearby food, which was also restored to being perfectly warm and edible. Though several of those watching were getting angry at her blatant disrespect, Touhou didn't mind in the slightest as he sat down next to her and asked,
"So what does this 'Dragon Emperor' want, and what does he intend to do?" Though Kuroka never mentioned that Alex was after anything or that he had a specific goal, it wasn't hard to deduce that was the case after her performance today, or from the fact that she said he wanted to ally with them. Kuroka shrugged when she heard Touhou's question, and took a minute to finish chewing her food, much to everyone else's annoyance, before saying,
"My master simply wanted to make contact with the second of the Dark Lords~Nya, before we start moving to release the seal on Alucard." The second the words were out of her mouth everyone in the room froze, before Touhou leapt forward and screamed in her face,
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!!!!! HE WANTS TO RELEASE THAT DEMON?!!!!!?"
Kuroka returned his screaming with a blank stare as she calmly flicked the spittle that landed on her cheek off, before flicking Touhou in the forehead with enough force to send his small frame flying, while also applying Touki in her attack. Even after being flicked across the room with his internal energy being in disarray, Touhou didn't mind it in the slightest as he quickly returned to his spot in front of Kuroka and stated,
"Is he insane?! For what reason would your master even consider reawakening that thing?!" Kuroka shrugged and calmly replied,
"There are several other reasons why~Nya, but he probably also just wants to fight him since he's supposed to be strong." Touhou was dumbfounded when he heard her reasoning for awakening what can only be considered a walking natural disaster, and the most powerful force on earth. Even he himself and his two comrades were unable to properly defeat Alucard at their prime, let alone now that Akasha was sealed and his and Mikogami's powers were waning. Even as he tried to explain this Kuroka simply continued eating and ignored him, as Alex already explained what he knew about Alucard earlier; that he was a creature that was as large as a skyscraper due to absorbing so many smaller monsters into himself, and that his vitality and regenerative ability meant that he was practically un-killable. Even after hearing all of this though none of Alex's entourage cared, as at the end of the day Alucard was nothing compared to Trihexia, and Alex's strength had increased by leaps and bounds since he faced, and conceded defeat against the apocalyptic creature. With Kuroka seemingly ignoring his warnings, and knowing there was nothing he could do to stop them as Kuroka alone was enough to wipe out the entire Huang family, Touhou slumped to the ground in despair before muttering,
"Fine then.... What else did this 'Dragon Emperor' want?" Kuroka finally looked up at Touhou since he changed the topic, and said,
"He wants me to learn 'Youjutsu' and sealing techniques from you~Nya." This sentence alone caused everyone minds to stall almost as much as when she said their intentions were to release Alucard, before Ling-Ling demanded,
"What do you need to learn from great-grandfather for?! You're already more powerful than the rest of us combined!" Though they didn't want to admit it, the rest of Huang family couldn't help but nod in agreement before Kuroka answered,
"I just want to learn more about this worlds version of 'Youjutsu' while I can~Nya." Though no ones thoughts changed when they heard her explanation, Touhou noticed something in the way she said it and asked,
"This worlds?" Kuroka then looked up in surprise and said,
"Oops~Nya, slip of the tongue." Though that's what she said, Kuroka's look and lack of concern led Touhou to believe it wasn't actually a slip, but he was too distracted to care as his mind raced and his heart thundered in excitement in his chest. Of course he himself knew of the theories of other worlds and attempts, both magical and scientific, to travel to them, but none had ever born fruit. If Kuroka and the one she called master were truly from another world, then it would answer almost all of the questions he had been mentally asking himself ever since she made her appearance. As he thought of this Touhou recalled the unusual skills and abilities she had displayed, and several more questions filled his head that left him more excited than his earlier ones. His thoughts were then interrupted when Kuroka muttered,
"I believe he also mentioned having me repay you for teaching me by using Time magic to restore your youth, just like he did for someone called Mikogami-" She never finished whatever she was trying to say, as the second he heard that Touhou immediately prostrated before her, and slammed his head down with enough force to form a small crater in the newly repaired floor while practically shouting,
"PLEASE LET ME TEACH YOU!!!!"
***
While Touhou was begging Kuroka to become his student, the battle back at Youkai Academy was finally reaching its explosive conclusion.
KABOOOOOM!!!
With a sound like a nuclear explosion, a figure was seen rocketing towards the ground at high speeds before crashing into it with enough force to rival an earthquake, while a part of the cliffs before the sea even broke off and fell into the ocean below.
"KYAAAAAAAA!"
"NYAAAAAAAA!"
Ririko and Nekonome both cried out as, even behind Grayfia's barriers, they were both thrown to the ground by the impact while everyone else struggled to stay on their feet.
"What was even the point of those rules...? Those lunatics." Nurari swore as he too tried to keep his balance, before turning his concern towards the school and the students within it. Right as he was about to say something though, Grayfia stated,
"While my lord may seem reckless, he does think ahead about some things. The school had several layers of magic formations added to it before the duel to prevent any effects of the duel from influencing it, and there are a few others on standby in case these fail." Though Nurari let out a small sigh of relief when he heard that, Grayfia herself swore to scold Alex later for his thoughtlessness since he actually hadn't arranged for more protection for the school besides herself, but she had to call Rias and Yue for backup since the two of them were capable of using high level barriers and Regeneration magic. As the tremors started calming down, everyone finally turned their attention towards the crater and it maker, finding Mikogami laying inside chuckling to himself despite the current state of his body.
Though he was covered with the obvious scrapes and bruises from the fight, everyone's gazes were drawn to the more drastic wounds; both of his horns having been shattered, one of his legs bending he wrong way, and the bloody stump at his shoulder that used to be his left arm. This wasn't even considering his internal injuries of several organs that had been smashed from the force of Alex's attacks, and even the several broken ribs that had punctured Mikogami's lungs. Despite all of this though, he was chuckling to himself from how fun the fight was, while his instincts were screaming at him to get up and continue fighting, something he would have gladly done if his body wasn't so thoroughly trashed. At that moment the culprit flew down and landed in front of him, looking no worse for the wear even though Mikogami knew he had gotten a few punches on Alex.
"You look like shit." Alex said bluntly, making Mikogami's chuckling turn into full blown laughter as he responded,
"Says the one who did this! And I bet you were holding back, weren't you you bastard!" Alex's smile widened at his opponents accusation while the spectators besides Grayfia looked at him in surprise, as, despite knowing he was quite powerful, neither Moka or Kurumu had seen Alex at full strength. With his smile widening even more, Alex took a stance and shouted,
"Haaa!" As he did so his hair turned golden while standing on end, and the aura around him also turned golden while multiplying by several times. As each of them could feel his aura, everyone watching besides Grayfia was in shock at how much power he was putting out, while even the 'inner' Moka who was silently spectating couldn't help but be somewhat impressed. Their shock only increase when Alex shouted once more, and the aura around increased even further while his hair became even longer and more wild, and lightning started arching around him.
With power radiating off of him in massive waves, Alex turned back toward Mikogami and said, "This is only the second level of several transformations that I plan to one day achieve." Though Mikogami was shocked to see and feel the power radiating off of Alex, when he heard that he was still trying to gain more power he started laughing like a madman once more as he tried to imagine such a thing, but his laughter was interrupted when Nurari stated,
"That's cool and all, but can you please heal this guy or something?! I don't know how much longer he can last like this!" At his shout Alex and everyone else recalled Mikogami's current state, and he canceled his transformation to quickly apply Regeneration magic. Once more Nurari watched on in shock alongside Ririko and Nekonome, as Mikogami's leg snapped back into place, the various discolored markings on his body faded, and his horns and arm also reappeared. As the Kishin slowly stood and tried to get his bearings, he turned to Alex and said,
"I can't believe this, first that amazing battle, and now you healed me completely like it was nothing!" Alex shrugged and explained,
"It's the same principle as the magic I used to return reverse your age, I just rewound time on your body to the point before our battle, when you were fully healed." A wide grin spread on Mikogami's face as he said,
"I'll need you to teach me that one some time. Sadly there's quite a bit we have to discuss, will you accompany me back to my office?" As he spoke Mikogami picked up his discarded chains and locks, which Alex also quickly repaired with Regeneration magic for him, before he reequipped them while turning towards Nurari, Ririko, and Nekonome while saying, "I doubt I need to say it, but this duel is private information. If anyone asks about the shaking earlier, just say I was doing work on the great barrier and that Alex was helping me." Though there was several things they wanted to say, Ririko and Nekonome both nodded and turned to return to the school, while Nurari simply stated,
"I'll come along if you don't mind, after that performance I'm curious what Alex here has to say." With neither Alex or Mikogami protesting, Nurari fell in beside them while Alex instead turned towards Moka and Kurumu before saying,
"Go ahead and return to the school ahead of us, I'll be there later." Though they pouted slightly at being left out, it was a fact that they were missing classes, so the duo turned and left after Alex gave them both a quick kiss, Kurumu on the cheek and Moka on the top of her head. Though it was obviously inappropriate for him do so as their teacher, neither Mikogami or Nurari questioned it since they could tell both girls were genuinely following Alex, and he wasn't controlling them in any way.
Once they were alone Alex offered to teleport them directly to Mikogami's office, however the Dark Lord swiftly rejected Alex's offer in favor of walking, the reason being that he wanted to calm down from their fight before returning. As Kishin were considered to be war gods, whenever Mikogami got into a fight he would gradually lose control until he became nothing but a mindless berserker, contrary to his title as 'The Strategist'. As such he wanted a chance to calm the berserker inside himself before they returned to the school, which was currently trying to get him to challenge the fully powered Alex, and even the seemingly powerful Grayfia. Despite the urges however Mikogami kept his cool, and forced them down with some of the various breathing techniques he had learned during his long life so that by the time they reached his office, he was once more the cool, calm, and collected headmaster of Youkai Academy. Once he had taken his seat behind his desk, Mikogami opened the discussion by saying,
"Now then, regarding your intentions to free and fight Alucard-" that was as far as he got before Nurari spoke up,
"Wait, freeing Alucard?! Is that really what you're after?!" Alex nodded and was about to reply when Mikogami spoke up,
"Yes, he told me so on the first day of school. I thought him insane until today, but, with the kind of power he displayed today, it might be possible." When they heard that Alex snorted in response while Grayfia narrowed her eyes at Mikogami, who simply shrugged and continued, "There's no such thing as certainty, it won't take strength alone to stop Alucard, otherwise we would have destroyed him years ago." Alex nodded in agreement before stating,
"True, however I also have several weapons and techniques that you didn't, as well as a small army of people with various different abilities capable of helping if need be. While I do agree that there is no such thing as certainty, this is not a battle Alucard will live after, that I can promise you." While part of Mikogami wanted to call Alex foolish for underestimating Alucard so much, he was unable to after his overwhelming defeat at Alex's hands, especially since Alex wasn't even serious during their fight. After remaining silent for several moments, Mikogami sighed and said,
"Very well, I'll start preparing various strategies and plans for when we wake him up, when do you plan to try?" Alex shrugged at his question, making Mikogami and Nurari both go slack jawed at his casualness at planning to fight the world's greatest threat, before he said,
"I haven't even talked to Moka about it yet. Since I don't know what might set off the seal that links them, I have to be careful for the time being and avoid awakening him prematurely. I do plan to tell her eventually once I have a clearer idea of what we are working with on the seal, and I even sent someone to meet with and try to learn from the other of the three Dark Lords, Touhou Fuhai." When he heard his old comrades name, Mikogami sighed and said,
"Haaa, I guess you'll be giving that perverted bastard the same offer you gave me?" Alex nodded and said,
"Yep, his youth for teaching one of my subordinates, as well as an alliance between his family and us." Despite hearing that Touhou would also be regaining his youth, Mikogami chuckled and said,
"One day I'll have you tell me more about this "us" that you just mentioned, but for now I suppose it is enough to know that you are not of this world." Even as he called them out on their secret, neither Alex or Grayfia flinched while Nurari nodded in agreement as he too realized what was off about the two before them, as nothing about them or what they did made sense in their world. Alex shrugged at their guess, neither confirming or denying it since it didn't matter to him if they knew, before turning around and going to leave the office.
"Maybe I will tell you everything one day, but then you'll probably have another choice to make. Until then, I'll enjoy getting to play teacher a bit more." With that Alex left the office with Grayfia right behind him, leaving Mikogami and Nurari alone with their thoughts. Though the idea of people from another world walking among them would be terrifying to some, the two were instead eager and excited to see the new and exciting things that would come with someone as unpredictable as Alex around, as at the very least they knew he didn't intend to harm them or the people of the world.
(A.N. Sorry once more for the delay in chapters, but things are not slowing down here and I've been busy in both my work and personal life. It doesn't help that the company I work for has been trying to get as much business as possible despite covid, and is persistently staying open despite the fact that it's spreading through the employees like wildfire. As before I'll write and try to release when I can, but no promises about when new chapters will come out. Thank you for the understanding.)