"Here you go princess!" Beerus' condescending voice echoed out as he sneered at Rias, while an entire planet bore down onto her. It was only a little bit bigger than Pluto, but that didn't change the fact that it was still an entire planet.
Rias however didn't back down, and didn't waver in the face of the oncoming terrestrial body. Instead, she simply pointed at the massive oncoming body and 'willed' it's destruction.
The planetary body suddenly exploded into thousands of tiny pieces, before an even larger explosion rocked the three of them as the power of Destruction displayed its force.
Despite the vast majority of her demonic power being drained, Rias still had a happy expression on her face from successfully Destroying an entire planet, though she didn't actually begin to celebrate. Spending more than four months as Beerus' apprentice had long since taught her not to do such things.
"Hmmm. Not bad." Beerus said as he surveyed her handiwork, surprising Rias before he added, "I suppose this will work for now, though you have a long way to go until you become a 'true' Destroyer."
Confused, Rias hesitantly asked,
"Am I...done?" Beerus glared at Rias when he heard her question, making the Crimson Haired Ruin Princess flinch and stiffen, before Whis stated,
"Ohohohoho, of course! Though he wouldn't say it directly, you've passed the basic requirement to consider yourself a Destroyer. You still need to train on your own of course, but teaching you any further than this would mean you taking Lord Beerus' place in the near future."
"Humph." Beerus snored at Whis' comment, neither confirming or denying it as he looked away pointedly.
Rias however felt relief flood her at realizing that her training with Beerus was over, which meant she could return home to her son and help try to locate Alex. As if reading her mind though, Whis then added,
"Oh yes! I just remembered that Alex has resurfaced, though it appears he's returned home already." Rias perked up when she heard that, as she asked urgently,
"Really!? Alex has returned already!?!" Nodding, Whis stated,
"Yes, I detected him not too long ago, though I am curious as what it was he used to hide from even my gaze! Ohohohohoho!" As Whis began to laugh in his usual manner, and Rias prepared to leave, Beerus suddenly stopped her as he said,
"Hold on a minute." Rias turned just in time to catch something that went flying at her out of the air, which she opened her hand to see a small golden band that was about an inch wide.
"That is the symbol of those who use the power of Destruction." Beerus explained while pointing to his own ear, where a matching golden band rested.
"I see..." Rias said, before placing the band on her upper left ear as well. Though she didn't like wearing jewelry that someone besides Alex gave her, the symbolism behind the earring was another matter entirely. Nodding in approval, Beerus said,
"Now all you encounter in our universes will know you're a wielder of the power of Destruction." For the briefest of seconds Rias could have sworn she saw the edge of Beerus' lips curl upwards as he said that, but it was gone so quickly that she wondered if she imagined it.
"Oh? Beerus has taken an apprentice? I wonder what brought this on?"
"Humph!" Beerus snorted before continuing, "I just didn't want the name of the Destroyers to be-" He then stopped talking before blinking a few times in confusion, before turning to look at the person who just spoke.
Standing there, without any of the three noticing until now, was four newcomers. The first was fairly short man with his white hair slicked back, and a halo hovering behind his head. Then was the tallest two of the four, a pair of identical looking men who were attired in long purple jackets with gold trim, which covered the lower half of their blue-skinned faces.
However the one all three of them focused on was the shortest of the bunch, a figure that stood at barely two feet off the ground with blue and purple skin.
*CRASH!*
Upon realizing who was there, Beerus immediately slammed his face into the dirt at their feet with enough force to create a crater, and practically screamed,
"Greetings to the Omni King! I apologize for not greeting your eminence upon arrival!" While Beerus was freaking out, Whis calmly bowed at the waist and said respectfully,
"Greetings Lord Omni King."
Following the duo's lead, Rias then also curtsied as well as she could, and said,
"It's is a pleasure to meet you great Omni King." When Rias straightened up she continued, "I am Rias, current head of the devil Dukedom of Gremory." When he heard that the Omni King tilted his head in confusion and asked,
"Devil? Gremory? What are those?" Instead of Rias, it was the short man accompanying him, the Grand Priest, that answered,
"Devils are the beings that reside in the afterlife where evil and malicious souls go to, though I've never seen one that looks like this before..." As he said that, the Grand Priest conjured an image of the Devils found in the twelve universes, humanoid beings with skin tones of all colors, and traits like horns, wings, and even clawed nails.
"Ohhhhh..." The Omni King said while slowly nodding his head in understanding, before asking Rias, "Then why do you look so different?"
Though both Beerus and Whis tried to shake their heads at her from behind the Omni King, Rias bluntly said,
"Well that is because I'm not from any of the twelve universes. We came here from another reality." When she said that Beerus face-palmed in exasperation, while Whis gave Rias a pitying look as if she'd just made a mistake.
Rias however didn't care. The Omni King would know about them sooner or later, so it would be better to learn his stance now than have him wipe out all of Asora and its connected world's or something.
"I see..." The Omni King said slowly, before slowly raising his hand and directing it at Rias. "So you're an 'outsider'."
Rias felt alarm bells going off in her mind as the Omni King seemingly decided to erase her right then and there, but she didn't back down or even flinch at the prospect. But then Whis stuck his staff out in between them, stalling the Omni King at the sudden disruption before he asked,
"What is this Whis?" The angel bowed deeply at the Omni King as he said,
"I am deeply sorry my Lord Omni King, but I cannot allow you to erase this person just yet. I am willing to take any punishment afterwards if you hear me out." To say that the four newcomers were surprised at Whis' sudden insubordination would be an understatement, and not one to be taken lightly as the Omni King asked him in a deathly serious voice,
"What is it Whis?" Straightening up while avoiding his father, the Grand Priest's, gaze, Whis then promptly explained,
"This woman IS from 'outside' our universes, but she is just one amongst the many that arrived with her, many of which are extremely powerful. Amongst them is her husband, a Saiyan man that's known as the Dragon Emperor who managed to fight lord Beerus to a standstill, despite holding back most of his strength." As the Omni King and the other three absorbed this information, Beerus leapt up and shouted,
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WAS HOLDING BACK!?!"
Seemingly forgetting about the other four people there, Beerus seized Whis by the front of his robes as he shouted in his face, to which Whis merely chuckled as he stated,
"Ohohohoho! You couldn't tell lord Beerus? What did you think those tattoos of Alex's were for?" When he heard that Beerus thought back to the numerous runic tattoos covering most of Alex's upper body, before he growled,
"Damn it! I want a rematch!" Beerus was so distracted by his frustration regarding his match with Alex, that he didn't notice the looks he was receiving from the Omni King and the others until Whis lightly coughed at him. Glancing back at them to see numerous blank looks, Beerus once again slammed his head down into the ground and cried out,
"Please forgive my rudeness great Omni King!" Ignoring the God of Destruction though, the Omni King looked back at Whis and asked,
"So this Dragon Emperor is really strong?" Whis nodded in affirmation before adding,
"Indeed, but he also states that there is a being with the Dragon Emperor who he claims is as powerful as your eminence." That caught the four of them by surprise, as the two attendants began sweating with concern while the Grand Priest asked,
"Oh? He has someone that strong?" Instead of Whis though, it was Rias who stated,
"The one Whis is talking about is Ophis, the god of dragons from my universe who embodies the concept of infinity. However now she is also considered the guardian deity of our home, a world called Asora." When she said this Rias emphasized the point that Ophis was regarded as a guardian in an effort to deter the Omni King from trying to Destroy them, as well to try and put more value in protecting and nurturing than Destroying.
For a moment no one said anything as they watched the Omni King ponder on everything he had learned, before the incredibly short figure finally said to Rias,
"I want to meet this Dragon Emperor."
***
Back in Asora, within the space-time orb, Alex watched on as his children showed him how far they'd come in the time he was away, which, admittedly, wasn't too far since their mothers stopped bringing them into the space-time orbs for a while. He didn't blame them though, since his disappearance lasted a while longer than he planned.
"Keep your guard up Videl!" Alex cried out to his student as she and Myuu sparred. They had come the furthest amongst the children since they continued spending as much time in the space-time orb as they could while he was gone, despite it extending the time until they'd see him again quite a bit.
While Myuu's wish to turn the two of them into Saiyans had sped up their training quite a bit, both girls were still significantly behind the rest of Alex's children, though the gap between them was closing at a much faster pace. Their extraordinarily high talent was due to how strong Alex was when they were conceived, while the two girls still only had the same amount of talent as average Saiyans.
That didn't mean that their training wasn't bearing fruit though, as Alex judged that both girls had already become several times stronger than they were before the wish, while Videl had long since surpassed her father.
"I don't know if I should be impressed or frustrated..." Muttered the blonde woman to Alex's right as she too watched the children train, Android 18. Though he was tempted to make a comment about how 18 and her brother 17 never trained a day in their life for their strength, Alex refrained from it since they were used as lab experiments until they rebelled against their creator. Instead, he asked her,
"So how are you adjusting to life in Asora?" 18 looked at him curiously for a moment, before sighing as she answered,
"Well enough. I take the occasional job through the guild I joined and get paid for it, pretty well usually. Though, most of the jobs I took the last few months involved searching Universe Seven for you." Alex chuckled wryly at that, before glancing at the Mermaid Heel crest on 18's jacket and asking,
"How is the guild doing? I haven't gotten a chance to visit them since I got back."
"They're doing good." 18 replied, before clarifying, "Kagura says there's been an increase in recruits recently, so the guild has gotten even bigger since I joined it."
Alex nodded slowly while his mind wandered to the stoic master of the all female guild, and he found himself wondering if he should pay her another 'visit' soon.
Even as Alex's mind wandered though, he didn't loose track of what was happening in his surroundings as one of his children suddenly went flying from another's attack. Instead of trying to catch them or something though, Alex just slammed his hand against the wall next to him, which then bent and stretched unnaturally as the child's body hit it before snapping back into place.
Ignoring the looks he was receiving at the incident, Alex then said to the child in question, Ryuto,
"Remember to try and regain control of yourself as soon as possible if that happens son. Otherwise you're allowing your opponent to control you." Brushing off the rubber wall as another one of his dad's cool abilities, the Crimson haired Saiyan declared,
"Right! Thank you dad!" He then eagerly jumped back into the fight he was having with his sister, Yuki.
Alex continued watching over them as if nothing had happened, even as Anne approached him and asked, "So what was that?"
"What was what?" Alex feigned innocence, as if he didn't know what Anne was asking about. The Dragon Empress deadpanned at her husband, before stating clearly,
"Since when could you turn other things into rubber as well?" Without looking at her Alex answered,
"It's an ability I picked up recently, though that's nothing." Without elaborating further Alex then went to correct some mistakes Myuu and Videl were making, leaving Anne to silently huff at his back.
A minute later though Alex returned to her and said seriously,
"We've got a problem, Rias says she on her way here with the Omni King in tow."
...
"How much longer?" The tiny figured whined as they shot through space at impossible speeds, to which Rias answered,
"It's not far now, just a little while longer." Though he pouted that it would take longer, the Omni King was silent as they continued on their way.
Currently they were using the usual method Whis and Beerus used to travel through space, which was basically a large bubble that moved faster than any spaceship. While Rias could've teleported them all there instantly, they were using this method in order to give Alex more time to prepare for their arrival on Pangea.
After all, it wasn't everyday they met someone capable of wiping them all out with a mere thought. And the Omni King was reserving his judgment until he learned more about all of them, though Rias was well aware that he'd erase them without a second's thought if he believed it was necessary.
While Rias was remaining calm throughout the journey though, Beerus was freaking out internally as a cold sweat poured down his skin in buckets. He knew that if the Omni King decided to Destroy Alex and Asora, he'd Destroy him and Whis right after for not reporting them.
"How are you not freaking out right now?" Beerus hissed to Rias as they continued onwards, to which the Crimson haired woman smirked as she responded,
"The Omni King gives me the exact same impression as Ophis did. Sure, he's scary at first, but both of them could be easy to get along with if you know how." As if to prove her point, Rias then walked up to the Omni King, and held something out to him.
"Would you like to try a snack from my home great Omni King? My son Ryuto loves them." Offering him one of the snacks that Ophis was particular to, the Omni King accepted it while saying,
"Thanks!" Rias smiled as he eagerly sampled the snack, now acting like a typical child since he was no longer trying to Destroy her.
"Hm.... This it good!" The Omni King declared as he tasted the snack, before quickly devouring the rest of it. "Is there any more?" He asked once the rest was gone, to which Rias said as she produced another package,
"Of course! If you want, we can even give you a whole lot once we reach Pangea to take home with you." The Omni king's eyes widened when he heard that, as he excitedly said,
"Ooh! Thank you!" Rias smiled warmly as she watched him eat, even as Beerus whispered to her,
"You don't really think a few snacks are enough to save our skins, do you?" Rias then looked Beerus directly in the eye, and stated,
"Ophis was a being that was regarded as someone to fear and even hate because of how stupidly overpowered she is. Then Alex came along and showed no fear or hesitation to her, and promised that he would become her friend without trying to 'use' her like anyone else up until then would. Sometimes beings like her or the Omni King only want someone to treat them like just another person, and not someone that fears them." When they heard that both Beerus and Whis looked at Rias weirdly, before the latter uttered,
"This Ophis is the guardian deity of your Asora. Wouldn't that be considered your Alex 'using' her for his own protection?" Rias however shook her head as she explained,
"No it's not. Ophis IS regarded as a last line of defense for our home, and families, if it ever was needed. But rather than an actual job she needs to take seriously, it's a role she herself has willingly embraced due to the amount of people who no longer show her fear or hatred due to Alex's influence. Now people regularly visit her shrine to greet her and give her 'tribute' in snacks, while their children will come as well to play with her."
As she said that to them Rias recalled back when that one man invaded Asora, and kidnapped Edith right under Gabriel's nose. It was something both of them had never forgiven themselves for, and even served as a catalyst for Ophis desiring to master using more of her own strength to better protect Asora and its people.
Her recollections were interrupted when the Grand Priest suddenly asked,
"Is that it there?" Rias looked up to see the planet of Pangea growing larger as they rapidly approached it.
"Yep, that's it alright." Rias confirmed as they moved in, while also silently hoping that Alex was already ready for their arrival.
Knowing where to go, Whis brought them down right in front of the gate leading to Asora, where Alex was waiting with an entire group of people, including a certain petite figure dressed in gothic-Lolita attire.
Rushing out the moment the bubble-like sphere around them disappeared, Rias ran to Alex before throwing her arms around him and kissing him excitedly.
"Where have you been?" She demanded the moment their lips separated, though Alex continued holding her in his arms as he gave her the same excuse he gave Anne.
"I went on a three month binge of drugs, booze, and alien hookers." Rias deadpanned at Alex's answered as she turned to look at Anne, and asked,
"Is he being serious?" Anne however only shrugged her shoulders as she said,
"He won't say anything else." Rias pouted cutely at Alex for not telling her the truth, but before she could say anything more the sound of someone clearing their throat cut her off as the Grand Priest announced,
"Presenting the ruler and supreme existence of the twelve universes, his eminence! Grand Zeno, the Omni King!" As he declared so, the Grand Priest kneeled before the Omni King along with Beerus, Whis, and his two attendants. However all the people gathered with Alex barely did more than bow or curtsy politely to the Omni King, while Alex himself released his hold on Rias and stepped forward towards the tiny King.
"Nice to meet ya, I'm Alexander Morningstar, the Dragon Emperor." He introduced himself while offering his hand, confusing the Omni King as his lack of fear and reverence.
Just as he was about to respond though, the Omni King noticed a certain someone amongst Alex's group. It wasn't the petite figure in the black dress, but a woman in a maid outfit with long purple hair that was staring at him intently.
The silence stretched as Alex awkwardly held his hand out, and the Omni King alternated his attention between Alex and the woman behind him. Eventually, realization seemed to dawn upon the short King, but not the kind of realization Alex and the others were waiting for.
"Ah!" He exclaimed suddenly while hitting his open palm with his fist. The Omni King then spoke for the first time to Alex as he said,
"I just remembered! You must be one of the people the Creator told me about!"