Brutality

"Next." Alex said as he directed his attention towareds Hyato and Alice, making both of their bladders threaten to empty after watching him literally rip the spine out of the man they had followed. Several tense seconds slowly crawled by as the duo tried to decide what to do next, before Hyato eventually said,

"Stall him..." Alice jumped at his voice before looking at him and demanding,

"'Stall him'?! ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?! HE JUST FUCKING RIPPED OUT DARIUS'S SPINE LIKE IT WAS NOTHING!" Despite the super Saiyan raging at him though, Hyato's gaze never left Alex as he calmly said,

"I have a trump card that'll allow me to take on even gods on more than even footing. The problem is that it takes time activate, and it's essentially a suicide technique since it uses up my lifespan whenever I use it. So after I use this, I'll pretty much be a dead man."

Alice went wide eyed at him when she heard what he said, surprised that he apparently still even had a trump card. However that didn't make her feel any better since she was the one that had to act as the distraction. With literally no other option available to them though, against an actual SSJ3, Alice gritted her teeth as she summoned every single drop of power at her disposal. She then turned back and said to him,

"Pull this off and you might actually look a little bit manly."

After she spoke a great golden aura exploded around her as her golden hair flapped violently in the wind, which would have been an awe inspiring spectacle if it wasn't for Alex's own transformation earlier. Meanwhile, behind her, Hyato had gone into a trance-like state as he began to chant in a voice that sounded to have dozens of others layered onto it,

<I, who am about to awaken with this body and this soul->

As he began chanting Alice suddenly surged forward with every bit of momentum she could muster, putting every little bit of it into her fist as she delivered the greatest punch she had ever thrown right into the middle of Alex's chest. It was a punch that could level mountains and clear seas, one that could rearrange entire landscapes and destroy complete ecosystems.

Thud...

Alice could only gape in shock as her fist thudded anti-climatically against Alex's chest, before his arms suddenly blurred.

CRA-CRACK!

Faster than she could react, Alice suddenly found her elbow bending backwards while her forearm was suddenly bent in a place it shouldn't have been, in the other direction. She didn't even had time to draw in a breath to scream at the sudden surge of pain, before Alex suddenly grabbed her head with both hands to bring it down while his knee came up, slamming the two together with just enough force that he shattered her nose along with every single bone in her face.

Then, with his foot still raised, Alex proceeded to bring it down directly onto Alice's right knee, snapping it backwards so hard that her tibia and femur ripped through the muscles in her leg to stick out the back. He then ended things by aiming a series of high speed light punches at Alice's chest and stomach, turning her ribs and sternum into small shards of shrapnel that shredded whatever wasn't turned into pulp by his punches.

By the time Alex was finished with his high speed barrage of attacks, Alice's body was limp and bloody as he supported her in the air with his 'Telekinesis', and kept her just barely alive with his Spirit magic.

Everything was silent as even Hyato had stopped his chanting just from the shock at the sheer brutality of Alex's actions, as it was stupidly obvious he had held back against Alice just so he could prolong her torment. Alex himself then turned towards Hyato and said,

"Go ahead, finish your chanting. I'll wait to deal with you until you're finished. Until then I'll 'play' with her, after all, I did say that you'll all only die quickly if you voluntarily returned my daughter to me. Instead, you're all going the slow and torturous route."

As he spoke Alex used Regeneration magic to return Alice to pristine condition before he began to resume his beating, in increasingly cruel fashions. Hyato however was left to restart his chanting.

<I, who am about to awaken with this body and this soul->

CRACK!

<-am the draconic beast that embodies domination and supremacy->

"HELP ME!"

<-I will exhaust this body and soul to exterminate the 'Infinite' and raze the 'Dream'->

"P-please stop....."

<-I shall become the draconic beast of supreme domination, ruling with great imperial authority->

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

<-AND I SHALL DANCE AS I SLAY THOUSANDS OF MORTALS AND PRINCIPLES, BEFORE BRINGING ALL TO PURGATORY!>

As soon as the final word left his lips, Hyato's entire armored body glowed with contrasting red, white, golden, and dark energies that cocooned around him in a way not too dissimilar to Alex's own earlier transformation.

When the energies cleared they revealed the still fully armored Hyato, except now the red and white armor's had undergone numerous changes as they looked sharper, and more sinister. It's size had increased notably while the hands and feet looked as if they possessed lethal talons, while the helmet looked more draconic with more pronounced teeth.

It's wasn't just the two Heavenly Dragons gears that adorned Hyato now though, with various pieces of his armor being replaced with brilliant golden plates, while a lions mane flowed down his back to further imitate Alex, while a dark aura radiated from his entire body and a sinister looking scythe manifested in his left hand. All the while the True Longinus hovered around Hyato, awaiting its master's will.

When he finally turned to look at him, Alex sneered contemptibly at the copycat before releasing his hold on Alice's once again limp and bloody body, allowing her to fall into the surf below. By this point the only thing keeping her alive was her incredible vitality as a saiyan, but even then she wouldn't continue to survive for more than another minute or two. And even if some stupid 'plot' bullshit happened to save her life, she still wouldn't live long since Alex inscribed a small magic circle into her to explode five minutes from then, ensuring her death.

As he took in Hyato's appearance though, Alex fought the urge to laugh at how ridiculous he looked with so many different types of armor on him. Obviously there was the Boosted Gear, Divine Dividing, and Regulus Nemea, while the dark aura and scythe were courtesy of Canis Lykaon.

Alex's thoughts were then disrupted when Hyato threw back his head, and let a layered beastial sounding roar.

<Haaaaaaa.....AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!>

In the face of such a feral and monstrous being, Alex sneered.

Hyato then disappeared from his current position as he immediately moved behind Alex, his scythe raised high as if to reap his neck, only for Alex to casually flick the blade of the scythe with enough force to literally rip it from his opponent's hands. Undeterred, the beastial Hyato then began throwing a series of high powered punches and kicks that caused a series of shockwaves each time, due to his enhanced strength from the Regulus Nemea and the boosts from the Boosted Gear.

Alex however snorted before unleashing a series of flicks that shattered entire segments of Hyato's armor, along with the bones in his body. He didn't even seem to care about his injuries though, with the energy flowing through him and the berserk-like state of Juggernaut Drive driving him to continuously press his attacks, despite his injuries.

Then an entire army of shadowy clones began forming around Hyato, all resembling the current him with the sole exception that they appeared to have more defined canine features than draconic, while they all also wielded sinister scythes similar to the one earlier. Alex's only response as they all closed in on him, was to bring his hands together suddenly.

CLAP!

With just the simple act of clapping his hands, Alex created a shockwave powerful enough that it caused the army of shadowy clones that Hyato had created to dissipate instantly, leaving Hyato to face him by himself once more.

With yet another attack being dealt with with ease, Hyato then proceeded to spread his blue and white wings wide before they declared,

<DIVI- BUST BUST BUST BUST BUST!>

Alex smirked as his opponent tried to half his strength to add to his own, but apparently even when in the Juggernaut Drive mode he was unable to take even half of the SSJ3's power.

Alex then glanced skyward towards the massive amount of divine power that was building up above him, due to the True Longinus preparing to unleash the most powerful attack it had ever dealt before. Alex only shook his head as he held up a single hand, and summoned a sphere of Ki energy so potent and powerful that it resembled a miniature sun that Alex could hold in the palm of his hand.

Momentarily summoning the Boosted Gear gauntlet on his left hand, Alex then pointed the Ki sphere at the True Longinus, and said as he fired at it,

"Penetrate."

The Ki sphere was blur at it shot skyward at the god slayer, impacting it right as the divine weapon was about to discharge its own attack.

For a moment the entire world went silent at the two energies collided, before an explosion that made an atomic blast seem like a little firecracker rocked everything around them. The blast swallowed both Alex and Hyato as the seas below them boiled and the ruins of the Hanging Gardens were instantly vaporized along with anyone else that was still alive and unfortunate enough be caught up in it.

For several minutes the world was dyed white from the power of the two energies exploding, before it slowly began to fade to reveal the only two things to survive the discharge, Alex and Hyato. The former was still floating in sky looking as well as he had before the explosion, after using abilities such as his 'Energy Nullification' to protect himself, while the latter looked as if he had been keel hauled.

His armor had been shredded in multiple areas, while the exposed parts of his body had been seared right down to the bone and most of his hair had been burned away. Despite all of this though Hyato himself was still hanging onto life with the power of four sacred gears surging through him, though once that power ran out his life was definitely forfeit.

This was the reason why Alex had never even considered trying to use or master the Juggernaut Drive transformation, as, even with his extended lifespan as a reincarnated devil, his own life would still be forfeit as well if he tried to use the technique. Though he could try to cheat like Vali and substitute the drain on his life force with magic power or energy, Alex didn't feel like copying him.

Another thing that made him look down on his opponent was that fact that, instead of trying to master the sacred gears he possessed, he had obviously just focused on gaining to levels to acquire as many as possible. Any one of the people who possessed the real version of his sacred gears, Vali, Cao Cao, Sairaorg, and Tobio Ikuse, would've given Alex a much better fight with their one than Hyato did with his many, though the end result would've been the same.

<...>

Alex was stirred from his thoughts as Hyato tried to say something to him, but appeared to be unable to due to the extreme amount of damage done to his body. He then decided it was time to end the fight since Hyato was already finished, and with his energy reserves already starting to burn out from the SSJ3 transformation, Alex didn't have the time to prolong Hyato's death like he had Alice's.

In the blink of an eye Alex was in front of Hyato's barely conscious form as he grabbed him by the face.

<.....ou...>

Alex paused as he actually heard something escape Hyato's bloody lips this time, making him ask,

"What was that?" Hyato then used what appeared every single ounce of his remaining strength to glare at Alex, and spit at him,

<I will never forgive you....>

Alex narrowed his eyes at him as Hyato continued with his last breaths,

<You stole everything from me... So no matter what I will have my revenge...even in death if necessary.... When you're awake....when you sleep....you'll be haunted by me every single moment.....you'll never know peace...because, in the end, YOU WILL PAY FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE TO ME!>

With his last declaration a dangerous amount of blood flowed from Hyato's nose and mouth, soaking Alex's hand and running down his front in an unsightly manner. In the face of his declaration though, in response to the curses his opponent sent at him, Alex only asked,

"Who were you again?"

As he had only regarded Hyato as the copycat after their first clash, Alex didn't bother regarding him with any importance whatsoever outside of being one of the people he needed to kill, he couldn't even recall what his name was. The only reason Hyato even lived after their initial meeting was because Alex considered him useful for helping to open a Spatial door directly into the heart of their stronghold, a duty he performed admirably.

Hyato meanwhile blanked at his opponents question, before more rage and humiliation than he had ever experienced in ether of his two lives surged forward. The very person who had stolen everything he ever wanted, who he had dedicated his entire being to defeating, and who he had sacrificed even his life to destroy, didn't even place enough importance in him to remember who he was. This revelation filled him with so much anger, that Hyato could only issue a gargling yell as he tried to force his destroyed limbs to move, to which Alex responded by slowly tightening his grip on Hyato's head.

<GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA->

Hyato's scream of rage slowly transitioned into one of pain as Alex's fingers slowly began to cave in his skull, his eyes bulging until they popped out entirely in a sickening manner while blood also started coming out of his ears.

After what seemed like an eternity to him, Hyato's life was finally extinguished as his head eventually popped like a gory balloon. Shaking the gore off of his hand, Alex watched uncaringly as Hyato's body plummeted towards the ocean like Alice's had, though his turned to dust before it ever reached the water.

With the notifications for both reincarnators dying ringing in his head, Alex turned his attention to the only remaining one of the three that he had faced, who apparently had already restored his ripped out spine, Darius.

The Dark Emperor glared at Alex with an intense hatred, which Alex actually deserved this time due to him being responsible for everything Darius had worked towards for the last eight years being destroyed. The two traded glares for several seconds, before Alex eventually asked,

"What, cold feet?" Darius snorted and replied with a nasty sneer,

"Of course not, I'm just waiting for your transformation to wear out. You shouldn't be able to maintain it for much longer, should you? Whereas my power is infinite...." Darius trailed off dramatically after he said 'infinite' as if to let the word sink in, to which Alex snorted this time since he'd already proven that Darius's connection to Fairy Heart was nothing before him.

However he wasn't wrong about how Alex wouldn't be able to maintain the SSJ3 transformation for long. Even now he could feel his energy quickly draining away despite the fact that he wasn't actively using it to fight. Before long the only thing that would be sustaining Alex's transformation was his raw emotions, which wouldn't get him very long before he was completely tapped out.

Regardless though he wasn't worried, as Alex's only goal with the SSJ3 transformation was to stretch it just long enough, which he fully believed he could do.

The duo floated there in the air staring at each other, neither moving as the sun slowly started to disappear beyond the horizon. Suddenly, there was a clap of thunder as Alex's figure suddenly vanished and reappeared right in front of Darius, before the Dark Emperor was sent flying with an even louder boom.

Any clouds that hung around them were instantly dispersed by the force of Alex's movement and kick, while the ocean below them split under Darius as he flew, all the way back to the mainland. There his body flew through several ranges of mountains before finally coming to a stop in the side of a particularly grand geological monument, where he formed a giant crater upon impact.

Broken and bloody within the crater, Darius's body began to painfully reconstruct itself before he saw Alex above him suddenly with his fist cocked back.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

In an instant the entire mountain was blown into dust, while around the entire planet volcanoes began to erupt as the shockwaves from Alex's punch stirred the magma below, and the plates began to shift to trigger numerous earthquakes across the world. These would only be the first of many though, as Alex unleashed a full on barrage of attacks that turned what was once an entire mountain range into a brand new canyon.

By the time Alex had finished with his attacks there was a bowl sized hole in the ground comparable in size to the Grand Canyon, and at the bottom of it was a badly mangled pile of flesh that had once been the Dark Emperor.

Regardless of his current state though Darius was of course still alive due to his immortality from the Curse of Contradictions, along with his connection to Fairy Heart boosting his inability to die. Of course what Darius didn't know was that Alex used Spirit magic to permanently bind his spirit to his body, meaning that as long as he had enough magic power to regenerate Darius was unable to die unless Alex allowed it. And as he himself pointed out earlier, Darius had an infinite amount of magic power to draw on.

This meant that Alex could pummel on Darius as much as he wanted without worrying about him dying too quickly, and the only time restriction they had was however much longer Alex's transformation was.

What followed was the repeating scene of Darius desperately trying to retaliate against Alex, however every single attempt he made was easily suppressed by him. Wether it was trying to use Fairy Heart's infinite magic power to spam impossibly powerful spells, or even using Acnologia's form to increase his strength and use his breath attacks. Alex However simply batted it away as if the country destroying attack was nothing more than a fly in his eyes.

Each attempt to fight back though was met with yet another round of attacks from Alex, which in turned triggered numerous natural disasters around the world from his strength. Earthquakes ravaged the surface of the planet while eruptions turned entire ecosystems into molten death traps.

Meanwhile the aerial shockwaves from Alex's attacks echoed around the entire planet, displacing entire storm systems while making those that heard them think that the world itself was ending. Of course Alex was completely unaware of this as none of those from Asora wanted to interrupt him to tell him, instead they focused on trying to minimize the destruction from his rampage as much as possible.

Despite his world ending might though, Alex couldn't beat the time limit he was under. As time went on his attacks started to become noticeably weaker, while a layer of sweat had formed along his extended brow. Of course the first one to notice this aside from Alex himself was Darius, who formed sinister smile as he patiently bided his time until he'd return Alex's beating several times over.

All too soon that dreaded moment finally arrived, when Alex went to give Darius yet another punch, and instead his hand was gripped in a powerful draconic claw that stopped his momentum.

"That's quite enough." Darius snarled in a guttural draconic voice, his lips curling upwards to reveal his razor sharp teeth before they parted to reveal a bright glow from the depths of his gullet.

Alex's eyes widened in surprise before the breath attack impacted him, sending him flying backwards through the air while burning his skin from the intensity of the attack. Before he could recover Darius then appeared next to him with speed that didn't match his giant dragon form, before using his tail like a bat to hit Alex into the ground.

What followed was Darius's turn to barrage Alex with attacks, as he used the infinite supply of magic from Fairy Heart to spam the most powerfull spells he could think of into the ground at the person who had been doing the same to him.

By the time he had finished, and the dust cleared, Alex was lying battered and beaten in another crater, however this one was nothing compared to the rearranging he had been doing to the landscape around them. Within it he was struggling to maintain his transformation as his hair tried transitioning back to its usual short black self, while Alex fought it so that it was transitioning between black and gold repeatedly.

Darius then landed on top of Alex and planted his giant clawed hand over him, pinning Alex to the ground with claws on either side of his head as he growled,

"Now let's discuss the terms of your defeat, shall we?" Despite the sudden reversal of their positions though, Alex maintained his confidence as he smirked and asked,

"Who said I'm already defeated?" His question stupefied Darius as it was already apparent to him that Alex was done for since he was already struggling to maintain his transformation. As he was about to point this out though, Alex looked at something behind Darius that he just barely make out from under his draconic body, before his smile became more pronounced.

"Yep, this is definitely my win." Alex said to Darius, before his mind suddenly went blank as his body stiffened within his grasp.

Confused, Darius was about to demand what he was doing when he noticed a silvery white light reflecting off of Alex's eyes, and a chill went down his spine as he suddenly recalled something Alice had said right before Alex appeared earlier. Slowly, Darius turned his great head to look behind him, where he saw the silvery pale disk that was the full moon behind him, which had finally risen for the night.

"Oh fuck me..." Darius muttered to himself, as he felt Alex's figure start to squirm against his hold, before he began growling and growing within his grasp, golden fur sprouting everywhere on his body.