As the water roared and filled in the gaping hole Gabriel had created all the way to the ocean floor, Darius and the others could only gape in awe as Alex's demand rang in their ears. The first to recover was Hyato, as he glanced at Gabriel above them before rounding into Paul and spitting as he pinned him to the wall,
"You could have told us that her mother was fucking Gabriel!" Paul's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he said,
"I failed to see what use there was was to learn her mother's identity, who is Gabriel though?" With everyone else looking at Hyato pointedly for information, he spat,
"Only an arch-fucking-angel, that's who!" Realization then seemed to dawn on Hyato as he sacredly glanced at their little hostage like she was a live bomb, even as she simply jumped up and down happily without a single care.
They had only looked at her as a Saiyan up until that point, but with the realization of who her mother was Hyato now considered her one of the most dangerous existences there was, no mater her age. His worries were then proven right when Edith, who was eager to reunite with her parents, began to slap her open palms against the stone wall separating her from them, and made it cave in slightly from the force her tiny hands created.
With everyone's eyes widening at the display, Calvin muttered, "Super baby....ok then..."
Darius however glanced between Edith and her parents, who were still waiting for their reply, and said,
"We're doing this now then. Paul, I want you to stay here and man the defenses in case they try to get close. Alice, ready your boy toys to help him defend the Gardens and keep them from retaking Stacy if they try something, then you, Hyato, Calvin and I will go up there to 'talk' with them. Now go!"
At his orders everyone leapt up to do as Darius commanded. Alice quickly ran to her quarters to have Sebastian, who was training their two new recruits, ready everyone else, while Darius handed control over the Hanging Gardens to Paul, which mainly included its defense system. Once they were ready, Darius used his Arc of Embodiment to fly up towards Alex while Hyato, Alice, and Calvin all followed him with their own various forms of flight. They had just barely stopped at twenty feet in front of him, when Alex stated,
"I don't see Edith anywhere, does this mean you want the prolonged torture route?" Darius's brows furrowed when he heard Alex's question, amazed that the stupid Saiyan still thought he was in control.
"You seem to be misunderstanding something." Darius began with irritation. "If you so much as twitch a single muscle, then your daughter will pay for it, slowly and painfully." He then paused to let the threat sink in, before continuing,
"Whereas if you willingly submit yourself and everything you have to me, then neither of you would have a thing to worry about. You'd be able to indulge in all the lust you desire, with ANY woman you desire as you breed us a Saiyan army. And STACY will live peacefully and happily as long as you cooperate, never wanting for anything." Alex's glare intensified when he heard what Darius had to say, as he spat back,
"First of all it's EDITH, not 'Stacy'. And secondly the only things that's for sure going to happen today is that I WILL get my daughter back, and all of you WILL die. The only thing that needs to be decided is the order. " Darius frowned when he heard that since Alex spoke as if there was no changing either of those two outcomes, and that no matter what they did he'd still kill all of them.
"You're an arrogant one, aren't you?" He said with obvious disdain, which made Alex roll his eyes before retorting,
"Says the one who thinks all it'll take to steal everything I have is to hide behind the skirts of a little girl." Darius and the rest of his entourage visibly flinched when they heard that one, before Alex startled them by suddenly flying closer to him.
"And you don't seem to realize that you backed yourself into the worst corner possible." Alex snarled once he was only a foot away from the Dark Emperor. "The only reason I haven't torn you apart yet is because you're using Edith as your shield, so go ahead and give me all the threats you want. The second that a single hair on her head is touched, I will bring the powers of creation and destruction themselves down on you to erase everything you've built."
Darius paled as he realized the biggest error they made in this plan, which wasn't Alex going berserk or rampaging like they thought, but him gambling the safety of his own daughter to ensure that he destroyed them. What he didn't know was that no matter what they might do to Edith to get at Alex, he'd be able to fix with his Age of God Magics like it was nothing, not that he'd want to have to do that of course.
Wth the two currently at an impasse the two emperors simply stared at each other for over a minute, both trying to find a sign of weakness in the other. This went on until suddenly Hyato snarled,
"Fuck this!" Then, before Darius could stop him, Hyato readied the True Longinus while his armor shouted, [PENETRATE!] With the blade at the tip of the True Longinus gaining a reddish tint, it was suddenly sent flying at Alex with the obvious intent to kill.
Alex snorted in disdain at the attempt to kill him, before simply dodging the divine lance with ease and redirecting Hyato's immediate follow up punch.
"So this is your answer?" Alex stated to Darius, while paying next to no attention to Hyato even as he tried repeatedly to kill him. Though the Dark Emperor seemed indifferent to Hyato's actions, he was inwardly furious at him for attacking.
Knowing that it was too late to stop the coming conflict, Darius simply flew backwards a ways and said to the other two, "It appears that this so-called 'Dragon Emperor' needs to be taught how things will be from now on, enlighten him."
Calvin sneered nastily at his emperor's orders, while Alice flashed Alex a disarming smile, her eyes immediately traveling down towards his nether regions as she recalled the part of his match against Typhon when he ended up naked. Alex however didn't mind either of them as he effortlessly deflected, blocked, and evaded every single one of Hyato's attacks, infuriating him more and more as the seconds slowly creeped by.
Before Alice and Calvin could move to help him though, Anne's figure blocked the latter's path as she snarled, "Your opponent is me!" Instead of appearing annoyed at her blocking his path, Calvin looked Anne's body up and down as he took in all of the exposed skin due to her dancers outfit's high exposure rate.
"You don't need to tell me twice baby!" He said excitedly as he controlled the vortex of air holding him in the sky to move away from Alex's fight with Alice and Hyato. Gabriel however flew back a bit to watch the fight since she was mostly there for Edith and as support, Alex already stressing that she wasn't to get anywhere near Darius.
Alex however continued to hold back Hyato with ease, even as Alice turned super Saiyan and joined him in trying to attack him.
He then frowned when he felt the level of power coming from her and her attacks, as despite the fact that she was still currently 'stronger' than him in her transformed state, she was still weak enough that Alex could easily take her without needing to transform himself. There was also the fact that all of her attacks were projected by her energy, so that each time she tried to even punch him he basically received a warning well in advance, without even needing to rely on his Observation Haki.
Despite the rage that still filled him at Edith's kidnapping, Alex still couldn't help the pang of disappointment when he realized that THIS was the Saiyan that he had been so eager to fight. Though he resisted the urge to shake his head in disappointment, Alice still seemed to sense something as she angrily demanded, "What?!"
This time Alex did shake his head at her even as he used a finger to redirect a strike from Regulus Nemia, which then proceeded to split the ocean below them in half. Feeling that Alex was looking down on her, a tick mark appeared on Alice's forehead as she charged in while simultaneously knocking Hyato to the side, and fired off a barrage of various high speed attacks at him.
"You'll need to try harder than that." Alex said as if disinterested in the fight after dodging or redirecting every single one of her attacks, angering Alice even more as she began to attack him with renewed vigor. With each passing second though Alex grew increasingly disappointed in his opponent, as it was obvious that aside from obtaining Super Saiyan she hadn't done any actual training to strengthen herself, or hone her skills.
"STOP ACTING LIKE YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME!" Alice roared in anger, her initial desire for Alex's body forgotten from the way he seemed to regard her with a condescending attitude.
The madder she got though the more Alice's golden aura grew in intensity, due to the Saiyan ability to truly channel their emotions into their own strength. However it didn't help her skills, though Alex could tell that she was slightly improving as she fought against him, and so her further increase in strength didn't change a thing until he felt a slight disturbance in the void.
The next thing Alex knew a length of golden chain appeared from nowhere before wrapping around his right wrist, and pulling his arm straight out to restrain it. He then didn't fight it as a series of golden chains appeared out of nowhere to bind his other arm, both his legs, and even his abdomen to lock him completely in place.
Though he wasn't really resisting, Alex still tugged at the links to find that they were sturdier than he thought, not that they'd completely hold him if he truly tried to escape. Alex glanced at Darius before sneering,
"You wanted them to 'teach' me, yet had to step in yourself when all they did was make fools of themselves?"
[PENETRATE!]
Before Darius could reply a gauntleted gist suddenly impacted Alex's face, with its force blowing through all of his defenses as the inside of his cheek shredded itself against his teeth. Alex didn't even flinch at the attack though, as he simply looked at Hyato and said,
"Not only do you hit like a bitch, but you have to wait for me to be restrained like one too." Hyato snarled at Alex's provocation as he immediately directed one of his feet up between his legs. This time however he didn't use 'Penetrate', and so Alex negated all of the potential damage with his Armament Haki.
"MOTHER FUCKER!!!"
Hyato cried out in pain while cradling his possibly broken foot, to which Alex replied in a fake lighthearted tone,
"Which mother are you referring to? I've fucked quite a few so you'll have to be specific." Under his helmet Hyato's face contorted in rage at Alex's taunting, even as Alice's fist sunk itself into his gut.
Darius watched the beating take place with an impassive expression on his face, but inside his mind was in a frenzy as he tried to understand the reasoning for Alex's current actions. Despite the obvious anger he felt towards them, Alex had not returned a single attack of his own at them.
Instead he had simply dodged or redirected every one of their own attacks, and seemingly didn't even try to resist as Darius bound him in the chains of Enkidu. On top of all of this, even with the hits he was currently taking and his snide remarks, it was obvious that Alex still full heartedly believed that he'd recover 'Stacy', and kill them all.
This much was clear when his and Alex's eyes briefly met, and all Darius saw was a patient seething fury, tempered by an incredible focus. Then there was Gabriel, who was simply hovering in the back watching everything, seeming neither concerned or agitated about Alex's current predicament.
"It's as if they're waiting for something..." Darius muttered quietly to himself, before he suddenly realized that none of the other women they had confirmed to be accompanying Alex were there.
"They're stalling for time!" Darius cried out to Hyato and Alice as he turned back towards the Hanging Gardens, only for an eerie chuckle to escape Alex's bloody lips as he said in a voice just loud enough to carry to him,
"Too late." Darius slowly turned back to look at Alex, who was smiling viciously as his numerous wounds began to quickly heal, and Shizuku's voice telepathically said in his head,
'Alex we have her! We have Edith!' The moment Alex heard those words all of the murderous intent he'd been holding back exploded forth at the trio before him, and the chains binding him began to creak slightly. Meanwhile Gabriel vanished into a beam of light as she quickly returned to Tenrou Island, where she'd use the portal to return to Asora and her daughter.
As she fled the trio were busy sharing horrified looks as they watched the illusion Kurumu cast over the Hanging Gardens disappear, only to reveal that their headquarters and home had been ruined, with several of its spires and towers destroyed while multiple fires raged. Alex interrupted their shock as he snarled at them,
"Did you really think it'll be that easy? That you'd be able to win just by taking a single little girl?" Darius was about to retort when another voice said in his head this time,
'Finally your majesty! I've been trying to reach you, we're under attack!'
'I can see that!' Darius snapped back through the telepathic communication device he had been distributing to those who didn't have access to the same system as him, only to hear back,
'No your majesty, I mean were under attack everywhere! Oración Seis, Tartarus, Alvarez, EVERYWHERE!' Darius's expression became increasingly pale as the messenger explained that every one of the people he had sent telepathic communication devices to were reporting attacks, while several of the smaller dark guild and similar organizations had already been destroyed or were requesting aid from them.
With Hyato and Alice both hearing the same information all three were stunned until Alex continued,
"You know, in a way you were right, that is all it took." They all looked at him with various expressions and thoughts as Alex continued,
"One little girl, that was all it took for an entire world to move. That was all we needed for an entire world to go to war." The second the last word left his mouth a metallic bird suddenly appeared next to Alex before opening its beak, conjuring a series of projections for them to see.
The first showed what was once an entire fleet of ships, that was now nothing but a bunch of debris and bodies that floated in the ocean.
The next was a similar scene of and entire fleet of ships destroyed, except these were all airships whose wreckage was strewn across a series of mountains.
Then one showed the Capitol city of the Alvarez Empire destroyed and on fire, even as the fierce battle continued.
Another showed the destroyed headquarters of Oración Seis, and then the battle still occurring at the headquarters of Tartarus.
One after another the images showed them all of the various organizations that were allied with them either already destroyed or in the process of being ruined, with several even showing the attackers themselves still fighting the dark guild and mercenary forces. Amongst them they could see figures with white feathery wings, black feathery wings, black leathery bat-like wings, Youkai, a type of merpeople, rabbit eared men and women, women that appeared and disappeared within sudden blizzards, an army of women wearing silver armor, and even legendary creatures like dragons and phoenixes.
Every single one of the races that called Asora home had rallied in order to punish those who would would trample upon their peace, who would stoop so low as to even kidnap their own little princess. However their own rage that compelled them to march to war, despite the fact that they had all moved to Asora for peace, paled in comparison to Edith's own father.
With his daughter as well as the other innocents within the Hanging Gardens safely removed from the line of fire, Alex could finally rampage to his hearts content.
Instantly the rage he had been suppressing ever since he first heard about Edith's disappearance filled him, fueling every part of Alex's body with power despite Enkidu's ability to seal the strength of those trapped within its coils. As he slowly became surrounded by his signature golden aura, Alex looked directly at Darius and the two others before growling,
"Now, it's my turn."
The trio were dead silent as they watched in awe while Alex's golden aura intensified, until finally they were able to behold his Super Saiyan form in all its glory as his aura alone pushed them further back. Both Darius and Hyato couldn't help but look at Alice incredulously when they saw Alex's transformation, which was exactly the same as her own, but the two were incomparable.
However Alex wasn't done yet.
CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE
Electricity started crackling through the air as his power continued to climb, and Alex's already oppressive aura intensified by several times as the oceans below them tossed and churned as if subjected to a great storm.
"HA!"
Alex cried out as his hair elongated and became sharper and spikier, while a single strand fell in front of his face.
"Are you fucking kidding me...?" Alice muttered in both horror and awe as she personally beheld the SSJ2 transformation for the first time, while both Darius and Hyato were simply speechless at what they were witnessing.
However even as the air around him crackled and the power surged from his body, the chains that held Alex in place remained firm.
This didn't bother him though, as Alex's power continued climbing without any discernible pause to force the three of them back even further, and even disrupted Anne's battle with Calvin off to the side. As it continued climbing Alex became wrapped in a giant sphere of golden aura as it continued growing in intensity, as if he was the core of a brilliant golden sun.
As his power continued increasing a savage yell escaped Alex's throat as their surroundings began trembling once more, except this time it wasn't limited to just the Hanging Gardens.
"Father?! What's going on?!" A young woman with tied up dark green hair cried out as the world around them started shaking, Hisui E. Fiore, Princess of Fiore.
Next to her was a man short enough to give even Markarov a run for his money, who desperately clung to his daughter's skirts for support even as he cried out, "I-I don't know!" This man was none other than the king of all of Fiore, Toma E. Fiore.
Together the father-daughter duo could only cling to the other as they tried to stabilize themselves, even as they felt the terrible power growing in the distance, accompanied by the golden glow that reached even them.
Everywhere in the world the same thing was occurring as everyone felt the power that inspired both fear and awe as the entire world itself seemed to shake, while even the gods of Earthland themselves trembled in fear. For nearly a minute this continued, until an sharp CRACK rang out across the world, and the terrible power seemed to finally be settling down.
While those who hadn't witness Alex's transformation were wondering what was going on, those who did either directly or indirectly could only gape at the sight before them.
As the vortex of golden power encasing him subsided, Alex was revealed looking vastly different from before. His spiky golden hair now flowed down past his butt like a great mane, while his eye brows seemed to have vanished only for the ridge they were on to extend out over Alex's eyes noticeably. Also different was that Alex's muscles seemed to be much more prominent, but not to the point of interfering with his speed like the bulky SSJ grade three transformation.
Of these changes though the one Darius was most focused on was the broken links of golden chain that were dangling from Alex's arms, legs, and abdomen, with his newfound strength having shattered Enkidu like it was nothing.
Without even bothering to admire his new look, Alex turned towards the trio of spectators and uttered in low growl,
"Here I come."