329 Arrival of the Lord

"SUBMIT, OR DIE!"

Three little words. That was all they were, yet it was a blatant display of power and tyranny to utter them. Even on the floating fortress, where Gyokuro sat on her throne along with the division leaders and what remained of their army in wait of Alex's arrival, they heard the words boom across the sky. And as she heard them, Gyokuro sneered.

"Does he really think that such threats will intimidate us? Pathetic!" As she spoke several of the division leaders agreed, while Miyabi looked in Alex's direction curiously before his eyes widened and realization hit him.

"They weren't for us...." Gyokuro and the rest of the division leaders looked up in confusion, before understanding dawned on them as well, causing Gyokuro's expression to darken considerably. Despite the fact that they surrounded the attacking airship, despite easily outnumbering the passengers, the dragons had seemingly completely halted their attacks, instead they were stationary in the air as they peered at the man who had ordered their submission.

Then, amazingly, one of the dragons bowed its head. One by one, as if it started a chain reaction, the rest of the dragons bowed their heads in midair towards the Dragon Emperor. A smirk forming on his face, Alex then looked directly at Gyokuro and said one more word,

"ATTACK!"

At his command the dragons turned around to face the one they formerly served, and swooped down to rain fire and death onto them. As they did so the vampiress directed a murderous look at Alex, before ordering in an icy cold voice,

"Deploy the barrier." At her order the false Issa gave a command through a walkie-talkie, and a massive pinkish bubble formed around he entire floating fortress. With only a few dragons managing to get inside before the barrier formed, they were now cut off from their brethren and their new leader. However, dragons weren't known for their caution and wariness though, and these few unhesitatingly charged forward to bathe the few hundred Youkai left in Gyokuro's army in flame, while their brethren fought to destroy the barrier from the outside.

Alex smirked as the dragons fought on their behalf, and turned towards the dumbstruck Touhou before saying, "Isn't the old saying to 'work smarter not harder'?" Naturally the Dark Lord was unable to respond as he watched the devastation below them, until several figures leapt up to engage the few dragons that were fighting, and one cleaved a dragons head off with a massive sword. After the dragon's lifeless body fell to the ground, dark green claws broke through the stone underneath to grab at it, pulling the rest of themselves up so that Oyakata's plant monsters could freed on the fresh corpse. Seeing the members of their family fighting the dragons, the vampires Issa brought with him bristled in anticipation of joining the fight below, while Alex frowned at the dragons swift death.

While they were fairly weak compared to other dragons he had seen until then, Alex still felt a slight kinship with them due to Ddraig's presence in his left arm, and the fact that they already become loyal to him. Alex then turned back and looked at a certain silver haired maid before asking with a wry smile,

"Are you ready for a small warmup?" Grayfia smirked confidently at his offer, before stepping forward to try her hand at breaking this flimsy barrier. Normally Touhou would try to be the one to dispel the barrier due to seals and Youjutsu being his specialty, but he was quickly realizing that he shouldn't interfere when Alex or one of his wives stepped up to bat. He wasn't disappointed either, as Grayfia simply raised a single hand when she reach Zenith's front, and a massive silver magic circle appeared out of nowhere before firing a monstrous amount of dark demonic power at the barrier before them.

Naturally the second the demonic power impacted the barrier the sound of shattering glass ripped through the air, before the pesky bubble popped out of existence. Naturally the enemy forces taking shelter within the barrier started devolving into chaos as their protection disappeared, and the rest of the dragons swarmed down onto them from above to do as their new master bid. The person responsible for destroying the barrier however frowned, as Grayfia snorted in dissatisfaction,

"That can't even count as a light warmup..." Shaking her head in disappointment, Grayfia turned and started walking back to her original position while the surrounding vampires gave her a wide berth with exceptionally pale faces. The amount of demonic power Grayfia used was greater than any of the vampires Issa brought could use, and the fact that she wasn't even winded and had been disappointed with how 'weak' the barrier was was deeply ingrained on all of their hearts, while each of them also thought, 'If only his maid is this strong, then how powerful is the Dragon Emperor?!'

Meanwhile the other side was in growing turmoil at the sudden development, as the dragons swooped down to rain fire, talons, and teeth while only the vampires of the Shuzen clan were able to fight back against them. While this was happening though the division leaders were staring at the spot where Grayfia was previously standing, before the one in a samurai suit of armor, Gairen, said, "Did you see who that was?" The one standing next to him, the Raiju Raika, nodded and said,

"It was a silver haired woman dressed as a maid....to think there was other such monsters amongst his ranks...." The rest of the division leaders nodded as, while they expected Alex to have reinforcements along with Touhou Fuhai and Mikogami, the fact that just one of them was so powerful was a major eye opener. It was enough so that the fake Issa muttered,

"No wonder he was so confident, who knows how many more such monsters he has up his sleeves." At this however a creepy cackling erupted behind them, as the group turned to look at Oyakata who said with glee,

"It doesn't matter though, because the stronger they are the better the sustenance for Alucard and myself if I'm forced to use my forbidden technique! Even now every dragon and Youkai that falls in battle is only making my babies grow stronger, it's only a matter of time until those 'monsters' become mere feed for them as well!" As she finished speaking the division leaders looked down, and saw that she was right. The number of corpses left didn't match how many Youkai and dragons had already fallen, as the carnivorous plants devoured every single scrap of dead flesh around them like a pack of starving piranhas, with several having grown noticeably bigger since the battle began. As they became more confident at the realization though, Alex's voice suddenly boomed out once more,

"FALL BACK!"

When the dragons heard this they glared back in anger, the urge to slaughter the pesky opponents in front of them stronger than the urge to follow Alex's orders. However as the Dragon Emperor released a slight amount of his killing intent at them, the dragons suddenly began backing off as they retreated a short ways away and began licking their wounds. With them out of the way and no longer providing Oyakata's plants with more nutrients, Alex then turned towards Kokoa and Akua before saying,

"You guys are up. Focus on the vampires and Kahlua, we have someone else who'll take care of the plant monsters." The duo nodded while Kokoa looked more unnaturally pale than even a vampire should, as she psyched herself up to face the sister that had always terrified her. Akua however stepped forward and turned to face the vampires gathered before shouting,

"ARE YOU READY FOR YOUR VENGEANCE?!!!!"

"""YEAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"""

The vampires yelled out, ready to face the ones who betrayed and turned their backs on the people they should've been most loyal to, along with Gyokuro who had locked most of them up to use for experiments regarding Alucard's body. As Akua and Kokoa leapt off of Zenith and led the charge, the rest of the vampires unhesitatingly followed them, while Alex held back Issa as he tried to join them.

"What?!" The vampire demanded, as Alex slowly shook his head, before saying,

"Just watch your daughters." Confused, Issa turned back towards the charging vampires to see what Alex meant, but his expression quickly turned into one of complete disbelief soon after, as the two girls tore their way through the army of vampires and the few remaining Youkai with ease. Meanwhile Alex turned back to Rias and said,

"Alright, I'm pretty sure he's tired of waiting already, send him out." Rias smiled wryly at this, before she used a magic circle to contact a certain someone and tell them they were finally free to go wild.

While this was going on, Gyokuro's expression was the most murderous it had been all day as she watched Akua and Kokoa lead the charge of vampires against her own, while both easily slaughtered any who stood in their way without pause. She then turned towards her precious daughter Kahlua, and said,

"Go Kahlua, brig me your traitorous sisters heads on a silver platter." Kahlua shuddered at her mother's merciless order, even against her own daughter, before saying in a subdued tone,

"Yes mother...." Before she could even take a single step forward however, a new voice suddenly broke through the sound of conflict before them.

"Fufufufufu, how interesting!" Kahlua and everyone else looked around alertedly for the new speaker, before Miyabi suddenly said,

"Up there." Everyone else followed his gaze and looked up at the top of the tallest tower on the floating fortress, where a single figure stood posed as if they were about to fight injustice in the name of the moon.

"Fufufu, how foolish... How completely utterly FOOLISH!" At these words, Raika asked,

"And what exactly is so foolish?" The figure laughed once more before changing into another weird pose and saying,

"YOU ARE! For more than a month I have watched you while holding myself back, but now you will face the full might of none other than the infamous KOUSUKE E. ABYSSGATE, LORD OF THE ABYSS!"

As he finished his self introduction, the Lord changed to another pose as he continued sneering down at them below. Normally one would think that Endou was putting on some kind of act due to the drastic change in character, but the truth was that he had simply activated a skill that he had acquired while trying to complete the Raisen Great Canyon labyrinth after his training with the Haulia, 'Abyssgate Lord'. As silly as it sounded, this skill actually multiplied Endou's strength similarly to the skill 'Limit Break', however unlike 'Limit Break' there was no physical drawback or time limit with Endou's skill. Instead the downsides were that it took a while for the skill to reach the maximum benefit while his attitude became more like that of a chuuni whenever he activated it, leaving Endou depressed afterwards from his words and actions while he was transformed.

While he was sneering down at them, the division leaders were looking up at the Lord with a mixture of confusion, and irritation. "Abyss Lord or whatever, I'll turn you into fodder for my babies!" Oyakata cried out, as she raised her book up high and the crystal on the cover started glowing. In response the entire area around her started surging as thousands of the plant monsters started crawling out of the stone. Half of them immediately raced towards where Kokoa and Akua were fighting, while the other half turned their eyes towards the Lord, and rushed towards the base of the tower he was standing on.

With his sneer widening, the Lord commented, "This is why I called you foolish, to think you thought you could beat the great me with mere numbers!" As he finalized speaking the Lord jumped off of the top of the tower and started running down its side, using Gravity magic to keep himself attached to the wall. By himself the Lord raced down the wall of the tower while the plant monsters used their claws to run up it, both preparing to clash in the middle. What none of the plant monsters or division leaders expected though, was for the Lord to suddenly make a meaningless hand gesture before shouting,

"Super secret technique, 'Dream Illusion'!" As he finished shouting out the name of his 'super secret technique', suddenly the number of Abyssgate Lords multiplied to well over a hundred copies, before each one suddenly shouted like an echo,

"PROMOTION-"

"PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-" "PROMOTION-"

"""""""""KNIGHT!!!"""""""""

With the word 'Knight' echoing over them, all of the Abyssgates suddenly disappeared before reappearing on the ground below, each one striking a pose as the plant monsters above them suddenly turned into finely chopped vegan steaks. Naturally there was a slight pause as everyone tried to take in what exactly had just happened, before one of the plant monsters suddenly lunged at one of the Abyssgates once again, restarting the fight.

What transpired afterwards could only be described as a one sided slaughter, as the army of Abyssgates cut their way through all of the plant monsters in their path, regardless of how much they were outnumbered. Of course the plant monsters tried to fight back, yet for some reason whenever they attacked their claws would faze right through their enemy's flesh without leaving a single wound, right before their opponent turned around and ended their life immediately after. This was the result of another one of Endou's skills, 'Clarity Phantom', a skill that allowed him to turn his usually illusionary copies physical in order to actually help him fight his enemies.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Oyakata's expression turned murderous as she watched her beloved plant monsters being slaughtered so one sidedly, even after all of the years she spent carefully raising and nurturing them in preparation for this day. Gripping the ancient book tightly, she eventually cried out,

"Fine then, if 'quantity' won't do, then I'll just have to settle for 'quality'!" As she shouted, Oyakata raised the book high once more as she prepared to cast her final trump card, a permanent spell that would fuse her beloved plant monsters with her own body to become a single organism. As the jewel in the middle of the book shined brightly though, the spell was interrupted when a kunai suddenly came out of nowhere to pierce and shatter it, leaving it as nothing more than an ancient paperweight. Gaping at her destroyed magic medium, a sense of loss similar to when she sent Ruby away fill Oyakata's heart as she now realized just how true Alex's warning had been back then. As the feeling of defeat filled her, she couldn't help but ask as a certain figure approached,

"Why do you wish to stop us so much? When you all have so much power, why fight on their behalf?" She then looked up to see none other than the original Abyssgate Lord standing over her with a frown. Though he was still a complete chuuni at he moment, Endou could only answer seriously,

"Of course I'd fight to defend my own people, even if I'm technically no longer a human my self..." Even though this was the Japan of an entirely different world, it was still almost the exact same as the home Endou and his classmates left behind, and so none of them would hesitate to defend it if the need arises. Oyakata however was staring at Endou in shock as, despite him saying he was no longer one, she never imagined that someone as capable as him was one of those worthless humans. The truth however made her want to laugh at herself for trying to destroy humans, only to be ultimately stopped by one instead. She then said while presenting her neck,

"So get on with it then..." She was waiting for Endou to deal the final blow, to which the chuuni shook his head and stated,

"No, there's a certain witch who'd be heartbroken if we had to kill you. Instead the boss has stated that your magic powers will be crippled, and you will live out the rest of your days on the Witches Ranch alone, never to harm humans again." With that being said, Endou pulled out a pair of azantium handcuffs and put them on the powerless woman, lest she try anything else, as the duo then watched as his clones continued to make short work of her plant monsters, despite being vastly outnumbered.

A short ways away Gyokuro snorted in disdain and muttered, "I knew we could never count on a lowly witch's help, she couldn't even become proper cannon fodder." The rest of the division leaders sighed in agreement as they turned back towards the main fight, not even bothering with Endou since they figured he'd just tire himself out on the remnants of Oyakata's army. Instead they focused on a certain redhead's slow march towards them, making Miyabi comment,

"She looks different..." This made Gyokuro, Kahlua, and the fake Issa frown in confusion though, as none of them understood how Kokoa seemingly aged several years in the span of a single short month. However Gyokuro dismissed her confusion quickly as she instead snapped once more at Kahlua,

"What are you waiting for then? Bring me her worthless head!" Nodding her own head with a melancholic look in her eyes, Kahlua could only answer, "Yes mother....." as she slowly walked towards her youngest sister.

(A.N. Sorry for the delay, all of my free time was taken up with raiding English monasteries and villages for the last week.)