After returning to the dorms they laid Ingvild down in one of the rooms, and went to call Ajuka Beelzebub while Rosswiess and Kuroka examined her with magic. The Maou sighed when he got their call, and started explaining,
"Her names Ingvild leviathan, until recently she's been asleep due to an illness. It's been roughly a hundred years since she started sleeping, but she woke up herself when her sacred gear, Nereid Kyrie, started activating. It's already been considered a new top tier Longinus, giving the power to control not only dragons, but the oceans as well." Hearing that, Rias paled as she considered the damage someone could do with that kind of power. She then said,
"So what about what happened earlier? She was with a group of grim reapers that tried to attack us." Ajuka sighed again before speaking,
"She was being kept under observation, but disappeared a while ago. Given what her powers are its possible that she was kidnapped and is now being brainwashed to attack Alex. If someone could control him and make him attack us, then you can only image the results of that. As for the grim reapers, we've already received a report from the one who took over after Hades disappeared. Thanatos stated that there are lots of grim reapers that were dissatisfied with how he ran things, as he didn't have the same ideas as Hades, and they vanished recently. Though it's also possible they want to go after whoever removed Hades." At Ajuka's words everyone glanced at Alex, but didn't say anything.
After that it was decided that they'll keep an eye on her until further notice, and defeat whoever tried to brainwash her if(when) they showed up. A few hours after the meeting with Ajuka ended, Alex was told that Ingvild woke up, and went to go talk to her. When he entered the room she was sitting up and looking around curiously with a sleepy look in her eyes, but focused on him once he appeared. As Alex sat down and asked hesitantly,
"You are the red dragon? Is this your house?" Alex nodded and said,
"You could say that since I live here somewhat, but it's owned by the Gremory's." They were currently at the dorms so Alex said it was also his house as he stayed here a bit, but not as often since he was mostly in Asora lately. They then did proper introductions, and Alex started asking her some questions. They were mostly about what she remembered, where she had been, and why she was part of the group that attacked him. Of course she couldn't remember much except that she wanted to see the sea. Once he heard what he was waiting for, Alex said,
"In that case let's go. We could all use some fun, and it might help your memories." Ingvild didn't know how to respond to that, but Alex went ahead and started making plans to go to the sea.
***
The next day they were all at the beach. Alex looked around and admired the view, he had to admit, going to the beach with so many girls was quite nice. As the only guys around were him, Gasper(still in girl form though), and Kiba, everywhere he looked was a bikini clad girl. Asia, Koneko, and Ravel were building a sand castle, Irina and Xenovia were racing each other in swimming while Rossweise timed them, and Kuroka, Rias, Akeno, and Roygun were sunbathing after he applied sun lotion to them. Meanwhile Kiba and Tosca were walking around on the beach, Gasper and Valerie were relaxing under an umbrella, Grayfia was watching over Millicas and Kunou, and Elmenhilde was hiding in a nearby cave since she was weak to sunlight. Alex then turned his attention to the last person present, Ingvild. She was staring out over the sea with a contemplating look on her face, Alex walked over and said,
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She turned to see him and replied,
"Yes, thank you for bringing me here." Alex nodded and said,
"It won't be the last time, we can essentially come when ever we want. Just let me know and I'll bring you." As he hadn't told her about Asora, Alex didn't mention how she would be able to visit the sea everyday there. Ingvild smiled bitterly, and said,
"I don't think I'll be able to, my powers have to be studied after all." Alex shook his head.
"If I say I'm taking you they won't dare refuse, you may not know it, but I'm someone people don't want to get on the bad side of." Along with his rough words, Alex took a pose to match it, earning some laughter from the girl. After a few minutes she stopped laughing, and said with a bit of melancholy,
"It's strange though, not long ago I was a normal seventeen year old girl, now I'm a granny over a century old. And everyone I knew is gone." Alex smiled slightly and said,
"Well for the first part I wouldn't worry that much, but don't repeat that around Roygun and Grayfia. As for the second part, while I might not know exactly what you're going through, I do understand not being able to see those you grew up with again. It's been about twenty years since I've seen my family, and I'll most likely never see any of them again." Ingvild looked at him curiously, as he didn't look older than twenty himself. Then she recalled she didn't look older than a century either, and kept silent. As she started thinking about what he said, the sky suddenly went dark, and the barrier that had been placed around the island started breaking.
"Ingvild, to the cave! Everyone else, get to your places!" Alex shouted, as the being trying to force their way in continued destroying the barrier. Ingvild immediately fled for the cave where Elmenhilde was, and where they placed a teleportation magic circle. Since Alex was trying to lure the mastermind out, he prepared for their intrusion and wanted Ingvild to get away when they appeared. Also using it to escape was Millicas and Kunou, as children were more of a liability on a battlefield. Soon the barrier was destroyed, and what appeared was a cute looking girl surrounded by darkness and an army of at least a few thousand grim reapers. The girl looked around, and not seeing Ingvild said,
"Greetings red dragon, I am the primordial goddess Nyx. Where is the girl that has the Longinus capable of controlling dragons?" Alex snorted, and said,
"Like I'd tell you, but I would like to know who's working with you." The goddess laughed and said,
"Well, well, well, refusing to give information but demanding some from me? Very well, I have nothing to hide anyways. I'm working alone in this." Alex was taken aback, as he recalled Nyx working with the other netherworld gods along with her brother and Hades, and she didn't usually try to hide information. He then said,
"You have an army of grim reapers behind you, there's no way you don't have any support." Nyx shrugged and replied,
"It's up to you if you don't believe me, but after Hades disappeared none of the other gods of hell want anything to do with upsetting you. Someone that'll take decisive action against one of the top ten most powerful beings, and won without much backlash, it's been decided you're someone not to make an enemy out of. But, if I control someone that can control you then it's another story, and the grim reapers here are ones that joined me of their own will to get revenge for Hades." As she mentioned Hades the killing intent of several thousand grim reapers converged on Alex, but he shrugged it off. He was about to face a god, how could he do so if he was affected by the killing intent of small fry? As they were talking Alex received a notification from Grayfia through the system, and grinned. He then walked towards Nyx, and said,
"You know what I love about movies?" She looked confused at his question until he said,
"They taught me that in almost every circumstance that the villain monologues until the trap is ready. Go!" At Alex's words the two were surrounded by the light of a magic circle, as Rossweise, Grayfia, and Roygun cooperated to forcibly teleport both Alex and Nyx.
When the light died down the two were alone on what seemed to be another island. Nyx looked around and demanded with some anger,
"Where are we?!" Alex smirked and said,
"On another island a few hundred miles away. This way we can both go nuts without dragging the others in, and you can't try to use anyone or Ingvild to your advantage." Though Alex said that, Ingvild was back at the dorms by now with the Sitri group as Alex faced Nyx, there was no way she could use her to get an advantage over him. The goddess then smirked instead, and said,
"That means you left your women back there with an army of angry reapers that would love to use any chance they could to get back at you." At her words Alex started laughing, and said,
"Those poor bastards!" Earning another frown from the goddess, as they both prepared for battle.