Chapter 306: Audacity
After some somewhat awkward introductions, Alex was seated in the Huang family's dining room along with the rest of his escort and the Huang family themselves. Touhou, who for some reason was still a little old man, was seated to Alex's left while Kuroka took the seat to his right, and Grayfia stood behind waiting intently for her lord to call upon her. As they chatted Touhou said suddenly,
"I must say though, I expected the Dragon Emperor to be strong, but your presence was practically suffocatingly overwhelming." Though it might have sounded like excessive flattery, Touhou was simply telling the truth as he had never met someone who gave off such a powerful aura like Alex, completely exceeding the expectations he already had for the master of the woman who singlehandedly defeated himself and the entire Huang family. Alex however simply waved off Touhou's compliment and said,
"While I may seem powerful to some, my strength is laughably pathetic to others. The heights I intend to reach go far beyond where I am now." As Alex continued to nonchalantly eat his food, Touhou stared at him with shock and wonder at his declaration. Even though he was widely considered to be one of the strongest people on the planet, Touhou knew he was still far from reaching the limit of what strength a mortal could attain, with Kuroka and Alex only further proving this point; what he never expected was for someone like Alex even saying that his power was far from sufficient. He was then further surprised when Kuroka suggested,
"How about a sparring match to show off your strength~Nya?" Alex looked at her curiously at this while silence gradually settled around the table, with the sole exception of Ten-Ten and Ling-Ling as they played with Edith and Mai, but both women were still glancing towards them curiously. Even as the atmosphere around the table changed, Alex just shrugged and said,
"Why not? Some after dinner exercise would be nice." As he accepted the idea of a sparring match everyone among the Huang family started talking among themselves about getting to see Alex fight, while Touhou himself excitedly said,
"Well I haven't gotten my youth back yet, but perhaps I'll be able to muster up some of my old strength for this!" Alex then gave him a weird look before saying,
"I'm not gonna spar with you. I even beat Mikogami in terms of raw strength, do you really think your techniques will have any effect on me whatsoever?" At Alex's jab Touhou became deflated as he muttered quietly,
"I'm sorry....." Alex then glance around the table towards the various members of the Huang family until his gaze settled on one in particular, making the young boy gulp nervously and point at himself while saying,
"Me?" Alex nodded slowly as the chatter suddenly died down around them, before he said,
"I want to see what Fang-Fang, the next master of the Huang family is capable of. I wouldn't hesitate to say that I'd win against any one of you that I'd fight, so why not you?" After hearing Alex's reasoning the chatter around the dining table erupted again as everyone started discussing what he said, some eager to see the Dragon Emperor 'test' their young master, while others were annoyed he spoke so bluntly about how much more powerful he was than even their great ancestor. Touhou and Fei-Hong however were both silent as they thought on Alex's proposal, before they both nodded and said,
"I think it's a great idea, maybe Fang-Fang could gain some insight and grow during their match."
"I agree," Touhou stated before continuing, "while I would have liked to face the Dragon Emperor myself, I suppose the fact that you beat Mikogami is enough for me, though I do wish I could have seen his face." Alex smiled wryly at Touhou's words, before projecting a recording of his earlier fight with his fellow Dark Lord. As everyone focused on the battle that was playing overhead, with Touhou begging to be taught how to use that magic, Fang-Fang could help but lament his luck as if it had been his execution that had been decided instead of a simple spar.
***
After dinner was finished everyone started making their way to the back of the Huang residence, where a practice ring sat waiting for Fang-Fang and Alex. The only hiccup was when Ten-Ten, the 'genius master martial artist' suddenly tripped and landed with her butt in the air, her ass and black thong exposed to Alex's greedy eyes while he walked behind her and Fei-Hong. Of course Touhou rushed in a took a quick photo of the tantalizing sight before Ten-Ten could cover herself, intending to use it the next time she got angry at him, only for Alex to destroy his camera and the footage inside. He was then 'forgiven' by a reluctant Fei-Hong for seeing his wife in such a position, while Kuroka reminded Touhou of the condition regarding her reversing his age, making him immediately beg for forgiveness and revealing to Alex why he was still a shriveled up old man.
Barring any further interruptions, everyone made their way to the ring while Alex's entourage was given a place of honor next to Ling-Ling and Ten-Ten, while Fang-Fang and Alex prepared for their spar.
"You can do this! You can do this, you CAN'T do this!" Fang-Fang cried out, as he contemplated running away from his impending death.
"Of course you can't do this." A voice suddenly said, making Fang-Fang jump as he spun around and saw his father standing there with his great ancestor, both of which looked as if they were appraising him. Fei-Hong then added,
"The Dragon Emperor obviously must have heard about us from miss Kuroka, and so if he singled you out then maybe he sees some merit in fighting against you?" Touhou nodded in agreement and stated,
"There's no benefit for him to bully someone significantly weaker than him, so there must be some point in his actions." Though not entirely reassuring, Fang-Fang did feel a little better after listening to his father and great ancestor speak, and was a slightly more willing to face Alex in combat. Though not exactly the image of pride and self confidence, Fang-Fang entered the sparring ring with his head held high as he faced Alex on the opposite end, who then stated,
"The match will go until one of us either ends up outside the ring, or is unable to continue. Worst case scenario we can even resurrect the recently dead, so let's not hold back." At Alex's words any confidence Fang-Fang had mustered vanished as he immediately wanted to escape this madman. He then took in a breath to steady himself, before taking a stance and waiting along with Alex for Kuroka to start the match.
"Ready~Nya?" Kuroka asked both people, before immediately using magic to create a flash of light without waiting for their answer. Immediately Fang-Fang started amassing his supernatural power while pulling out one of his many talismans, fully expecting Alex to instantly attack him, however he simply stood there waiting. Even though this would benefit him, allowing him to finish his summoning, Fang-Fang couldn't help but demand,
"Are you not taking me seriously?!" Alex frowned when he heard that, before saying,
"If I wasn't taking you seriously, then you wouldn't be the one standing in front of me. Me allowing you to finish your summoning is not a sign of mockery." As Alex spoke Fang-Fang stood rooted to the spot, his expression frozen with a look of shock, never had he had an opponent show him respect before, always they mocked him or coddled him when it came to his inability to summon creatures properly. Gritting his teeth, Fang-Fang shouted with newfound confidence while holding out the talisman that acted as a medium,
"Answer my call, Hagane Zatoumushi!" As he called for his specified creature a powerful wave of supernatural energy radiated from Fang-Fang's body, before condensing in front of him and exploding in a burst of smoke, to reveal a panda.
""""Eh?"""
That and the sound of the panda munching on the bamboo shoot in its paws was all anyone heard as they tried to process what just happened, while Fang-Fang fought back the urge to cry as he lamented his terrible luck in summoning.
"Um, I'll try this one, Salamander!" Once more there was simply a panda there after the smoke cleared, and then when it cleared away the third time, and the forth. Becoming increasingly dejected with each failed summoning, Fang-Fang pathetically whimpered,
"I don't care anymore, something just please come....." This time however when the cloud of smoke dissipated what appeared was a chubby looking baby chick, which looked around curiously. Falling to his knees in defeat, Fang-Fang whimpered, "Why can't I just summon something to fight with...?" By this point the majority of the viewers, including Alex's peerage, we're looking at Fang-Fang with sympathy while a few of the girls even looked at Alex with a bit of blame as if he intentionally wanted to embarrass the young man. Alex however never took his eyes off of Fang-Fang, who suddenly stopped whimpering when he heard a voice say in his mind,
'Is that truly your wish?' He looked around confusedly before muttering,
"Wha-? Yeah, I want to be able to fight my opponent properly-" Before he could say anything more, the baby chick that Fang-Fang summoned stepped towards the paper talisman that had brought it there and immediately grabbed it before suddenly swallowing it, right before it suddenly started glowing and increasing in size.
"""Woah....""" Several of the onlookers let out gasps and sighs of amazement as the baby chick grew large enough that it's flaming wings spread out over the entire Huang family estate, before it turned its flaming eyes towards Alex and those standing behind him, and decreeing,
"I, THE MIGHTY PYO-TAN, WILL NOW DESTROY YOU AS MY CONTRACTOR WISHED!" As it said this Fang-Fang's expression of surprise turned to one of dread as he quickly shouted,
"No wait! I only wanted to be able to fight him for a friendly sparring match! There's no need for destroying or anything Pyo-Tan!" The massive Phoenix didn't pay his words any mind though, as it lifted it massive head before breathing out a torrent of flames directly at Alex and those standing behind him. Though his expression hardened, Alex didn't even flinch as the wave of flames washed over him while Kuroka put up a powerful barrier to prevent the flames from reaching them, with every one of the girls never even flinching while Edith and Mai laughed excitedly at the pretty fire.
As the situation unfolded both Touhou and Fei-Hong were about to rush forward to Alex's aid, but were stopped by Grayfia as she simply shook her head at them slightly, making both men hesitantly stand down before they saw what happened next. The raging inferno started to suddenly vanish before revealing a perfectly intact Alex standing in the middle, except his expression alone was enough to give even monsters nightmares. As he glared directly at the rampaging Phoenix, the mighty beast roared and shouted,
"TO HAVE THE AUDACITY TO LOOK AT THE GREAT ME LIKE THAT! ACCEPT THAT DEATH IS YOUR ONLY OPTION!" Pyo-Tan then shot up into the sky before turning back towards them and diving faster than a bullet with its massive beak pointed right at Alex. With the spectators from Huang family growing increasingly nervous as the mighty Phoenix dove, Alex never even flinched as it collided with him and created a massive cloud of dust that obscured the vision of the spectators. When it cleared though they found the sight before them incomprehensible, as Alex casually held back the mighty beast by using a single hand to grip its massive beak, completely halting its dive while also simultaneously holding it up in the air. As even Pyo-Tan tried to register what had even happened, a low growl escaped Alex's mouth,
"You said something before about having 'the audacity'?" Even though he had just spoken Pyo-Tan felt shivers run through its body as it quickly broke out of Alex's grip and back away, the closest thing to a cold sweat phoenixes could feel running down its back. And that was even before Alex looked up, a expression of pure rage and bloodlust on his face as he stated, "Shouldn't that be my line? That attack before was also meant for the people standing behind me, right? HOW DARE YOU HAVE THE 'AUDACITY' TO EVEN CONSIDER ENDANGERING MY DAUGHTERS?!" As he spoke, simply from the rage he felt, Alex even accidentally triggered the super Saiyan transformation as he went directly into SSJ2, bringing his entire aura and bloodlust down onto Pyo-Tan like a mighty hammer.
'Th-this can't be!' Pyo-Tan thought to itself, the very new sensation of fear pulsating throughout its body as it faced the rage of its opponent. Even though it was simply a baby chick, even newborn phoenixes were more powerful than the majority of other monsters with the sole exceptions of the super beings such as vampires, however after a single decade even they fell short of a phoenixes power. The being in front of him however eclipsed even the most powerful phoenixes that existed in Pyo-Tan's memories of its previous lives, making it even more afraid as Alex took a single step forward, making the ground around his foot cave in from the force of its impact. Then, even though he had his SSJ2 form activated, Pyo-Tan suddenly saw the image of a great and mighty red dragon behind Alex, glaring down at him with rage and killing intent, making a single thought go through the Phoenix's mind, 'I am about to die.'
The mighty and majestic bird then did the unthinkable, as it suddenly slammed its massive head down into the ground in its desperate attempt to kneel before Alex and display submission, crying out, "PLEASE MIGHTY ONE, ACCEPT THIS WORTHLESS PYO-TAN'S APOLOGY AND SHOW OF SUBMISSION!" As the beast kneeled before him, Alex halted his slow advance and demanded,
"Why should I? Would an apology have undone the potential damage you would have willingly inflicted onto my daughters?" The great bird gulped as it tried to find the right words, as they were filled with such pride that a Phoenix had never before submitted to a person outside of their own race before. However, with their ability to be reborn from the ashes of their own corpse, never in their history had a Phoenix truly felt as if they were about to die, making Pyo-Tan feel a surge of emotions that he never had before, driving him to beg forgiveness to the one before him. As he desperately searched for the right words to say, the mighty beast stated while also changing back into its chubby baby chick form,
"I was wrong, I was too prideful. Please great one, show this worthless chick mercy and I will do everything within my power to repay my debt!" Seeing what appeared to be a chubby baby chicken bow before a him and beg for mercy, the majority of the rage Alex felt disappeared as he dispelled his transformation before glancing at the girls to see what they thought, with them either nodding in agreement or smiling supportively. Alex then turned his attention towards Edith and Mai, who were still smiling happily despite the temper tantrum he had just thrown, which coincidently had made the entire Huang family pale while even Fang-Fang had passed out from what he had witnessed. He then turned his attention back towards the still bowing Phoenix, thinking for a second before saying,
"You will enter a contract with one of my wives, and become her willing familiar free of charge or conditions, and you will answer and act at her beck and call, essentially becoming her pet." Even though Pyo-Tan felt a large amount of indignation at the thought of becoming a pet as Alex asked, it was heavily outmatched by its fear of angering the being before it even further, so it made no argument as Alex sent Grayfia to collect the wife in question. It was only a few minutes before the silver haired maid returned, with the pregnant Ravel in tow. She took one look at Pyo-Tan, before saying,
"So this is the Phoenix?" Alex nodded before explaining,
"He looks pretty pathetic now, but give him a few years and he might be worth the effort to form a contract with." Ravel nodded as turned her attention back to the chubby chick, excitement noticeable in her eyes. Her family of course had a history of trying to form contracts with phoenixes, which had been considered a sign of the individuals potential and capabilities if they had succeeded. Even if he wasn't strong enough to be worth the effort, having a contract with Pyo-Tan would be exceptionally helpful for when she returned home and tried to succeed the house of Phoenix; even more so since, unlike every other familiar contract with powerful and mythical beings, it would cost her nothing on her end. Typically such a being required a heavy and almost impossible price to earn their cooperation, with Azazel having to give the dragon King Fafnir half of the treasure he had accumulated throughout several millennia as a prime example.
After several tense moments where Ravel used a magic circle to bind herself and Pyo-Tan, gaining its interest at the unfamiliar magic despite its previous fear, the two of them returned to Asora with Grayfia's help. With his anger from before completely forgotten, Alex couldn't help but smile as he thought about the unexpected bounty of being able to add a Phoenix to Asora, before turning his attention back to the passed out Fang-Fang. Technically with him being passed out Alex had won their sparring match, however he still had something he wanted to do with the youth, so Alex unhesitatingly walked to Fang-Fangs side, and used his foot to lightly tap him in the side of the head.
"Get up, our match is still going." Alex said impatiently as the groggy teen tried to wake up, before recalling the previous scene and paling when he saw Alex towering above him.
"HIIIIIIIII!" Fang-Fang cried out as he recalled the imaged of Alex rage from before, before trying to crawl away before he too face such a thing. Alex only sighed as he grabbed Fang-Fang's foot and tossed him back towards the center of the ring, before saying bluntly,
"You tried summoning and failed utterly at it, not only in summoning creatures to fight for you, but also in controlling those that you brought forth. With this in mind, my advise to you is to give up and instead face me yourself like a man." Even though his first thought was still to try and get away from him, Fang-Fang halted when Alex bluntly stated that he was a failure at summoning, which he was but he couldn't help but say,
"What else can I do? I'm the next head of the Huang family, how exactly am I supposed to lead them if I can't even summon?" In response to his question however, Alex simply vanished from his previous spot instantly, and said from behind Fang-Fang,
"How should I know? That's for you to find out." Fang-Fang turned suddenly as he tried to react to Alex's voice, but before he could the breath was knocked out of him as Alex's foot connected with his side before sending him flying.
"..." Soundlessly Fang-Fang gasped repeatedly as he struggled to breathe after having the wind knocked out of him, while Alex took a stance where he started, and said,
"I told you to face me like a man!" Fang-Fang glanced at him as he still struggled to breathe, surprise showing on his face as he recognized Alex's stance as one his mother often used, something that had been drilled into Alex back when he was being taught by Sun Wukong. With somewhat shaky legs, Fang-Fang stood and tried to take a similar stance, but Alex vanished again before sweeping his legs out from under him, and saying,
"You need to be firmer in your stance unless you want to end up on your ass. Legs further apart, tense enough to take your opponents attack, yet loose enough that each of your movements flow smoothly." Though Fang-Fang was gritting his teeth in irritation at having to do as his opponent said, his irritation was soon forgotten as Alex continued knocking him down or hitting him, before giving him instructions on how to fix his previous mistake. While everyone watched in dumbfoundment and confusion, Touhou muttered,
"He never intended to actually spar with him, he's teaching him...." Fei-Hong and Ling-Ling looked at Touhou confusedly when he said that, but Ten-Ten however looked at her son with increasingly widening eyes, as indescribable pride filled her along with the urge to kick herself for never noticing it sooner. At a pace that was considered to be impossible, Fang-Fang was adapting to Alex's instructions as his movements became more refined and firm, more powerful. It was apparent to her now that the reason that Fang-Fang was never able to take to Touhou's lessons and become a capable summoner, was because he took after her and not his father, because he was a natural born martial artist.
POW!
As everyone became slightly dazed at the realization, their attention was brought back to the match as Fang-Fang's fist connected with Alex's opened hand, a smile on Alex's face as he said,
"What do you know, you can do it if you tried." With the unfamiliar feeling of pride welling up in him, Fang-Fang was about to say something to him, but Alex closed his fist around his hand, and suddenly tossed the young boy outside of the ring, causing him to lose the match immediately. Despite this the feeling of pride and accomplishment never left Fang-Fang's body, as he hurriedly turned to face Alex, and bowed low before saying,
"Thank you very much!" Alex however didn't look back at the young boy who's life he just changed, instead he simply waved his hand before walking back to his family, where Edith and Mai was waiting for him with their arms open in an obvious indication that they wanted him to hold them.
"Dada!" Edith cried out excitedly as he took her into his arms, before she suddenly took her arm and thrusted it out in an obvious imitation of a punch. Alex and Gabriel both froze when they saw that, before he suddenly said,
"Oh Edith! Are you gonna be a fighter like daddy?" While Gabriel cried out,
"But Edith, it would be better to be pretty and use light like mommy, wouldn't it?!" Even though it was practically guaranteed that she didn't understand what they were saying, Edith still made another gesture like she was punching while saying,
"Dada!" Alex smiled proudly as he kissed his daughter on the top of her head, and Gabriel deflated at the side at how Edith seemed to take after Alex more than her, while she was already depressed that Edith's first word was 'dada' and not 'mama'. While the rest of the girls fawned over Edith and how cute she was acting, Touhou couldn't help but stare at the group in wonder, with is gaze directly on Alex himself.
Though he was incredibly thankful that Alex helped Fang-Fang discover his talent, he couldn't get the previous image of Alex out of his head, the one where he practically made the world itself tremble as he lost his temper. In that regard they were similar as Touhou was well aware that he was regarded as the most emotional of the three Dark Lords, but as he watched Alex interact with his family he could help the smile that spread on his lips.
***
Meanwhile, in another part of the country that the Huang family had made their home, their long time rivals, the Miao family, were exceptionally active while the head of the family stood at his desk, his knuckles deathly white from how hard they gripped the edge.
'What the hell was that?!' He mentally swore, recalling the sudden surge of power that had sent the Miao family into their current frenzy in the first place. It was suffocatingly powerful, and outclassed anything he had ever felt before, including the one time he had met with Touhou Fuhai. The most terrifying part as that the direction the power came from was obviously the same way as Huang family, meaning it was possible they had secured a powerful new ally to help destroy them. The head of the Miao family's first thought was to try and reason with the Huang family and reinstate their truce, but when he thought of that Xia-Long recalled the one image he wanted to forget, that of his father being stuffed into a suitcase while he was still alive. He fought the sudden urge to vomit as the words of the true master of Miao family drifted through his mind once more,
'Betray me, and you'll meet the most gruesome end imaginable.'
With no other choice but to do as HE said, when his men came to receive their orders Xia-Long commanded,
"That surge of power came from the Huang family, send the most powerful assassins we have and deal with them!"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Harry_Dresden
Harry_Dresden Thanks for reading!
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