บท 298: Assassin?

Over the next several days Alex, Moka, and Kurumu fell into a routine of attending school during the days, and then returning to Asora and spending their nights in the space-time orb. Each night they would remove Moka's rosary for a few minutes so that the 'inner' Moka could make an appearance, which, along with Moka's daily consumption of Alex's blood, allowed the two girls to interact with each other more and grow closer together. Though she didn't want anything to do with Alex's harem, the 'inner' Moka couldn't help but admit that his blood was tastier and more potent than anything she'd ever had before, resulting in her accusing him at least once of trying to tame her through her stomach.

While Moka was visiting and growing closer to her other self, Kurumu spent her nights training, alternating between learning about illusions and how to properly use her nails from Kuroka, as well as general hand to hand combat and how to make use of her speed from Shizuku and Shia. For the most part she enjoyed herself while learning from and interacting with so many people, as she never had a lot of friends before, while the only part she truly disliked was going to fight monsters to gain experience points.

And so the days passed without incident, with the only interesting thing happening was Alex becoming the only gym teacher after Okuto showed his true colors, and was fired after he tried to r@pe one of the female students. The student in question had apparently confessed to Okuto, yet instead of taking her confession seriously or rejecting her, he then proceeded to attack her with the excuse that since she liked him, then she had no reason to say no. It had been at this point that Alex had arrived, since he had been tracking this particular student for this very reason, and confronted Okuto for his actions. After a very short fight where Okuto showed his true form, a kraken, Alex then dragged him to the headmasters office after warning the girl to be more careful around guys in the future; though as if she didn't hear him, she immediately started following Alex around after that in awe of the man who saved her. Now, a little over a week after school had started, a couple of female teachers were standing in what appeared to be a wide open area while waiting for something.

"Uhg, I don't understand why the headmaster called us out here away from the school, and just told us to wait!" Kagome Ririko cried with frustration, while Nekonome absentmindedly continued eating some fish shaped crackers she had brought with her. Suddenly a voice called out from behind them,

"We're here to act as witnesses to a duel miss Ririko." Both teachers turned suddenly to see a familiar figure standing there, his face hidden by the cap on his head, the bus driver. Ririko sighed and said,

"If even you're here Nurari then it must be a serious duel." The bus driver smiled sinisterly and said,

"Indeed, one of the three Dark Lords versus something that not even I can see through, this duel should be quite entertaining." Ririko tensed when she heard that though and asked,

"What do you mean by "something even you can't see through"?!" As a Nurarihyon, or supreme commander of all monsters, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Nurari was unmatched in terms of knowledge regarding monsters, or their movements in the entire world. The fact that there existed a being that he couldn't see through meant that they either weren't a monster, or they were something not of this world. The bus driver smiled sinisterly at her question, and decided not to answer her as he eagerly anticipated the show to come. It wasn't much longer before another new voice said,

"Good your all here, now we only need to wait for him." The three turned and saw the headmaster Mikogami standing there as he prepared to fight, however they also noticed something different about him, as if he had more of an aura than before. Nurari noticed this more than the other two, and asked,

"Have you done something to restore your past strength my old friend?" Mikogami smiled similarly to nurari and answered mysteriously,

"I feel as if I'm already stronger than I was in my youth, and no I didn't do anything, it was a gift. If it wasn't for that, I would never have even agreed to this duel anyways, right Alex?"

"Indeed, I was quite disappointed when you rejected my challenge at first, but now things are bound to get interesting." Yet another new voice said, as Alex himself approached them along with Moka, Kurumu, and Grayfia. The four youkai glanced at the maid accompanying Alex curiously as they tried to guess her background, as she was radiating an aura of power and authority. The fact that such a person was a mere maid to Alex was enough for them to know that he was a lot more... "interesting" than they assumed. With the two combatants and six witnesses(seven counting the purple haired one spying from a ways away) gathered, it was finally time for the duel to start. As they stepped forward Alex and Mikogami both felt their hearts start pounding excitedly in anticipation of what was to come. As they stood facing each other Nurari stepped forward, and stated,

"I'll be officiating this match if you don't mind, and the rules are simply don't kill each other, don't kill any bystanders, and don't damage the surroundings too much. That being said, BEGIN!" Even with duel officially started Alex didn't move as he decided to let Mikogami have the first move, to which the exorcist wielded a rosary of his own, and chanted a short incantation that resulted in a dome of light surrounding Alex.

"Wow." Alex said as he casually examined the barrier surrounding him, while Mikogami smirked in front of him. He didn't truly expect that this could hold Alex, however he hoped it would give him a chance to see what Alex was truly capable of before they actually fought, a plan that was soon smashed to pieces as Alex raised a fist and smashed through the barrier instantly. "Please tell me you've got more than that." He said to his surprised opponent, as he expected that it would take at least a little bit longer to escape one of his barriers. Without being put out in the least, the smile on Mikogami's face widened as his blood really started to boil, and he answered,

"Of course not, that wasn't even the appetizer!" He then grabbed his exorcists robe and threw it away, revealing what seemed to be a youthful good looking man underneath, except his entire upper body was bound in chains meant to restrict his powers, as without them he couldn't even maintain his human form very well. Without any kind of ceremony Mikogami grabbed the chains, and immediately tore them off while also removing his hood, resulting in several drastic changes happening to his body.

Firstly his body grew slightly as his muscles became more pronounced, tearing his shirt and allowing them to see the marking forming underneath that was shaped similarly to a sideways eye. His arms also started changing colors while his hands changed shape until they seemed to be coated with a hardened substance, while each elbow had a protrusion growing from it. To complete the transformation several markings started covering his face, while two horns protruded from the sides of his head as they pointed backwards. As the powerful energy radiated off of him Alex's smile widened even more in anticipation, while the two teachers watched with abject shock at the headmasters true form, a Kishin, or demon God.

"FINALLY, WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE!" Alex cried out as he released his own aura, which immediately matched the headmasters in intensity despite still not transforming.

"I-I can't believe this..." Ririko muttered as the two monsters stared at each other for a beat, before vanishing suddenly and reappearing in the center of their previous positions, their fists connected as they clashed.

KABOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!

The air thundered as it sounded like the sky itself would fall on them from the concussion of the impact of their fists, and a series of shockwaves decimated their surroundings as the ground beneath them started caving in from the impact.

"PROMOTION, ROOK!" Grayfia suddenly cried out, as she formed a powerful barrier in front of the group witnessing the battle to protect them, and the school behind them from the shockwaves of the fight in front of them. Even as they tried to recover from the results of that one clash though, it wasn't enough as shockwave after shockwave assaulted them from Alex and Mikogami relentlessly continuing their attacks on the other, both trying to force the other to give way.

"To think, that boy can keep up with one of the Dark Lords so easily..." Nurari muttered, earning a snort from Grayfia as she stated,

"I think it should be the other way around. My lord has never once met an opponent who could directly over power him with strength alone, and even now he is holding himself back in order to properly enjoy this fight, rather than end it too soon." Nurari looked at her incredulously along with Nekonome and Ririko at her claims, thinking she was trying to boast about her master when Grayfia was just stating the truth. Even until this point Alex had yet to activate his super Saiyan transformation, or use any of his skills in the fight against Mikogami, instead he was enjoying a pure fight against an opponent that had several centuries of experience over himself.

Even in the middle of his fight Alex couldn't help but recall his days of learning under Sun Wukong, as the old monkey displayed time and again that experience could beat brute strength if the user didn't know how to control it properly. However, the Alex now was nothing like the Alex back then. As well as his strength, Alex had already spent several years honing his skills and technique when fighting; so despite the fact that Mikogami had a bit of an advantage with several centuries of experience fighting, Alex was still the one who was slowly but surely pressuring him. As the seconds ticked by the battle raged on as the two clashed time and again, their aura surging outward with each clash, shaking the ground itself and even going so far as to disrupt the great barrier protecting the school, though thankfully it never seemed in danger of actually collapsing.

***

"KYAAAAAAAA!"

"WAIT! COME BAAAAACK! I NEED YOU TO WEAR THIS!!!"

While Alex was in an intense duel with Mikogami, to the west across the sea, and in a luxurious mansion, a young good looking girl dressed in serving attire was fleeing from a wrinkly old man who stood at only roughly three feet tall, a type of costume gripped in his hands. As he chased the poor girl through the mansion, several needles suddenly came out of nowhere and impaled themselves in the wood right before him, making the old man freeze in his tracks as another beautiful woman who was radiating an aura of rage, stated in a dangerously calm voice,

"Stop pestering the help, and get back to dinner." The old man cowed immediately and reluctantly followed her back to the dinning room, where the rest of the family was waiting. At the head of the table was a fierce looking man whose face was covered with several scars, and at his left was a young boy who looked to be no older than fourteen. Sitting next to him though was an older looking girl, however she had unnaturally pale skin and glossed over eyes like a corpse. The beautiful woman from before, Ten-Ten, took the seat to the right of her husbands, Fei-Hong, while the old man, the last of the three Dark Lords Touhou Fuhai, returned to his seat directly across from Fei-Hong. As everyone returned to their seats and resumed the meal as if nothing happened, the boy, Fang-Fang, asked his father who was head of Huang mafia family,

"So what were you saying before father, about the Miao family?" Fei-Hong nodded as he recalled his earlier discussion before their great ancestor ran out, and said to his family,

"Anyways, my men have reported that they're-" Meanwhile Touhou Fuhai pulled out a tablet and leaned it against a cup before pressing the play button, resuming the anime he had been watching moment prior. As he watched the scantily dressed women fly around fighting, and getting what little clothes they were wearing ripped off, he couldn't help but sigh while saying wistfully,

"Oh my beloved 2-D beauties, at least you will never leave me..." He was then about to take a bite of his food, but froze when he thought he felt something. Touhou tried to determine what it was he felt, but as he tried to grasp it it disappeared, leaving him slightly confused.

"Maybe I'm finally going senile as well...." He muttered sadly before lifting his food to his mouth once more, before the same thing happened once again, causing him to put his food down and focus sharply. Though he couldn't feel anything once more, this time Touhou didn't lower his concentration and continued focusing, until he felt it for the third time. As he was finally able to determine what he was feeling, Touhou's expression hardened as he started emitting a tense atmosphere that got his descendants attention as well.

"That idiotic muscle head, what is he doing?!" As he had finally been able to analyze what he was feeling, Touhou realized that his old comrade Mikogami was currently fighting with his full strength against an opponent that was either equally powerful, or even stronger than him. Currently the two were not only growing weaker than they had been in their prime, but they were both trying to preserve what little power they had left to prolong their lives, meaning that, even if he survived this fight, it was highly likely Mikogami was using up the last of his life force and would die within a matter of days. Knowing that even he wouldn't do such a thing for the thrill of a single fight, Touhou deduced that he must be under attack by a powerful force, but before he could say or do anything, someone said,

"He's just having a duel with my master~Nya, they'll both be fine." Touhou shook his head though and stated,

"He's in the same boat as me, we can't use our powers too much or- Nya?" As if suddenly realizing the verbal tick and voice that he'd never heard before, Touhou slowly turned along with his descendants and saw a certain beautiful black haired woman sitting at the table, reaching out for some of the food as if it was the most natural thing. Despite the fact that they were in China, she was wearing a black kimono with noticeably massive melons that threatened to spill out of it at any moment, and four black catlike tails to match the pair of cat ears on her head. As if just noticing the five gazes that focused on her, Kuroka tilted her head cutely in mild confusion, before saying, "Nya?" Then,

"ASSASSIN! ASSASSIN IN THE DINNING ROOM!" Fang-Fang suddenly shouted, alerting the entire mansion that an intruder who was a potential assassin had penetrated their defenses. The entire mansion suddenly rumbled with activity as the men who served the Huang family leapt into action, and half of them rushed to the dinning room while the other half went to check every room in the house for any accomplices she might have had.

"Assassin~nya?" Kuroka muttered somewhat confusedly, as she had only gone there to talk; but as a influential family that dealt with and ruled part of the underground, they didn't hesitate to consider the one who managed to infiltrate their home so easily as some kind of assassin. However when she saw them prepare to engage her, Kuroka smiled somewhat sadistically and decided that it was time to see what the people of this word were capable of. She then deftly dodged the series of needles that came flying at her as if they were moving in slow motion using the 'Knight' aspect of her 'Queen' piece, before swiftly plucking them out of the air and throwing them back at the one they came from.

"...She's skilled!" Ten-Ten declared after she too had to dodge her own attack, but when she turned back to her opponent Kuroka was nowhere to be found, until someone swept her legs out from under her from behind. "Wha-" Was all she had time to say as she wondered how her opponent moved so fast, before Kuroka slammed her palm down onto Ten-Ten's exposed stomach, slamming her down onto the dinning table with enough force to completely smash it. Despite the insane power Kuroka had just demonstrated, it was normally impossible for a master martial artist like Ten-Ten to be defeated this quickly, but as Kuroka's palm connected with her, she also felt several things barely puncture her stomach before a numbing sensation started spreading through her body, courtesy of the mild paralysis poison Kuroka used through her claws. Her first opponent taken care of, Kuroka then turned towards Fang-Fang and Fei-Hong, who were both holding talismans while chanting. Fei-Hong finished his chant first and said to her,

"You'll pay for doing that to my wife, come, SALAMANDER!" As he finished speaking there was a powerful pulse of supernatural energy, and a long eastern dragon appeared before glaring at her. Kuroka smirked at the dragon as it appeared to nothing but a little lizard to her after the other dragons she'd met so far, even as it surged forward and set the room alight while protecting Ten-Ten with its body. As Kuroka was submerged in a sea of flames Fang-Fang and Fei-Hong both cracked a small smile, but they quickly faded when the flames started turning black, before they parted to reveal Kuroka no worse for the wear as several wheels of black flames surrounded her. She glared down at her opponents like a divine being, and declared,

"If these meager flames were enough to defeat me, then what right would I have to be the 'QUEEN' OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR?!" Her declaration finished, Kuroka then used her Kasha wheels to bathe the room in black flames that radiated purifying energy, scorching the scales of the Salamander before burning the talisman that summoned it, and defeating Fei-Hong. Releasing the Kasha wheels, Kuroka then turned her attention towards Fang-Fang, who was the only one left in the room after Touhou and the corpse-like woman left when the fight first began. As she slowly approached him, Fang-Fang quickly resumed his chant before raising his talisman threateningly and saying,

"Heed my call and answer me, IMMORTAL PHOENIX!" As he shouted there was a powerful surge of supernatural energy like his father's summoning, however when the light cleared there wasn't a Phoenix there.

"Nyaaaaaaaa!" Kuroka cried out, as she quickly wrapped her arms around the cuddly panda that had appeared and was silently munching on a shoot of bamboo. Fang-Fang looked as if he wanted to vomit blood as he slowly muttered,

"Not again..." He had wanted to summon a Phoenix as, even if a dragons flames didn't work, then perhaps a phoenix's could, plus it's regenerative powers could possibly bring his parents back into the fight. Fang-Fang came back from his slump as he noticed Kuroka stand up with the panda still in her arms, before she turned towards him and seriously said,

"I'm keeping it~Nya." She then sent the panda to her personal space with the floating islands and hundreds of cats, before grabbing Fang-Fang by the face and slamming him through a wall. At that point the smell of corpses assaulted Kuroka's nose as the woman from before returned along with a few dozen companions, while on the other side of the room a dozen more men showed up that didn't smell like corpses, except they all had machine guns pointed right at her. Before she could say anything the woman in the lead stepped forward and said,

"Even if you are an assassin I will acknowledge your skills for defeating my parents, but know that it is Ling-Ling who will bring you down!" Kuroka rolled her eyes as she muttered,

"I never said I was an assassin though...?" As she said this Ling-Ling's eyes narrowed, but she didn't bother trying to ask further since they would get that information during the interrogation later. She then noticed one of the men on the other side nod at her to indicate they had retrieved her parents and little brother's bodies, making her smile widely as she ordered,

"ATTACK!" As she and the other corpses behind her leapt into action, the men on the other side open fired without any regard for their comrades, and if anyone had said anything then Ling-Ling would have simply replied with 'I'm not worried, because I'm already dead.' Despite the hail of bullets on one side, and the small army of zombies on the other, Kuroka's smirk never faltered as she didn't pay any of the bullets attention, and moved towards the zombies.

As they closed in and were about to attack her though, Kuroka used 'Blink' and appeared behind them, where she immediately placed a couple of fingers onto the back of one of the zombies' head and started reading their internal energy. After less than a second of contact a smile formed on Kuroka's face as she realized what made the zombies work, since she had only ever seen necromancy before where the undead were basically puppets of their master. These zombies however were corpses that had their original consciousness put back into them, while the majority of motor functions were restarted with magic. Though her wanted to spend a bit more time investigating what made them work, Kuroka instead used her Touki to cut off the supply of energy to the rest of the body, making the one she was touching drop like a puppet with its strings cut. It was still alive, or rather undead, but it wouldn't have access to any of its motor functions below its neck until she returned them.

"...What are you...?" Ling-Ling asked incredulously, as Kuroka used her own speed and 'Blink' to disable the entire group of zombies in mere seconds, all while ignoring the bullets bouncing off of her due to her 'Rook' trait. Kuroka shrugged as she finished the last zombie besides Ling-Ling herself, and replied,

"I'm just your average adorable cat?" This got her a blank deadpan stare in response, before Ling-Ling sighed and motioned for the shooters to stand down, as there was apparently no point to the bullets other than to damage her own undead body further. She then took a stance while Kuroka did the same as they stared each other down, before Ling-Ling moved first as she thrusted her flattened hand towards Kuroka. Though it was an easy enough attack to avoid, Kuroka paused for a moment as she noticed a strange energy form around Ling-Ling's hand, this caused her to wait until the very last second to use 'Blink' though it wasn't that much of a risk, at least until Kuroka noticed her side was bleeding. A large grin spread on Ling-Ling's face when she saw the blood, as she managed to draw the first blood on their mysterious opponent even if it was just a scratch. Kuroka however looked at her wound curiously, as she tried to figure out how exactly Ling-Ling managed to wound her when she was using Spatial magic, until,

"It seems like even someone as monstrous as you aren't immune to the 'Jigen-Tou'(Dimensional Blade)!" Kuroka looked up at her, intrigue in her eyes as she heard about this 'Jigen-Tou', however she had something more important to focus on at the moment, and replied to Ling-Ling while running a finger across her wound,

"I'll have to have you show me that move properly later~Nya." Ling-Ling was confused as they were still in the middle of their fight, until Kuroka suddenly teleported in front of her, and her consciousness went dark after the cat girl gently tapped her forehead.

***

While all of this was taking place Touhou Fuhai sat solemnly in another room, as he analyzed the events taking place within the Huang family at the hands of this mysterious invader. She was obviously very skilled and powerful, and if her claims could be believed she served someone even stronger than herself, a concept that was both exciting yet terrifying. The problem was that there had been no word of this group's existence until now, no whispers of them in the underworld, no bounties on them or that they've claimed, there was absolutely nothing. It was as if they had appeared from nothingness out of thin air, something that was terrifying yet also impossible, as one did not reach that level of strength through training alone, but through intense training AND by fighting strong opponents. Touhou's thoughts came to a halt as he noticed the attacker leisurely making her way towards him, turning anyone who crossed her path into stone using a mysterious grey mist, before she finally entered the room he had taken refuge in. As they looked at each other she asked,

"So I'll just assume you're the Dark Lord Touhou Fuhai~Nya?" Touhou nodded before replying,

"I'm sad to say you have me at a disadvantage though, as I have yet to hear your name, or your reason for attacking my home and family." Though he was speaking calmly there was an obvious anger in Touhou's voice at her actions until now, and the only reason he hadn't yet moved against her and was not more furious was because he could tell that not a single person that had fallen at her hands had died, including his descendants. And so he decided to properly greet his opponent before they began their fight, with the hope of gleaming some insight into her background if nothing else. Kuroka could easily guess what Touhou was after, but since they weren't actually enemies she simply shrugged before saying,

"I'm Kuroka Toujo, a servant of the 'Dragon Emperor'~Nya." Though Touhou was surprised at how easily she gave her name and the identity of her master, he couldn't help but ask,

"You said servant just now, but didn't you say 'Queen' earlier? And shouldn't it be 'Empress' if he's an emperor?" Kuroka sighed in response and explained,

"'Queen' is merely a rank among his servants, my masters 'Dragon Empress' is someone else~Nya." Kuroka then chuckled at her reference of Anne, who didn't like her new nickname even though it fit her as Alex's main wife, and as a 'Dragon Slayer'. Not understanding what the joke was, Touhou then asked her,

"Before we begin our fight I have one last question if you will, why does this 'Dragon Emperor' want me dead?" Though Kuroka hadn't killed any of his descendants, Touhou still believed she had been sent to eliminate him simply due to how powerful she was. He was surprised however when she sighed and said,

"Who said anything about killing you, or even anything about assassins~Nya? My master sent me here to speak with you and possibly forge an alliance among other things~Nya, you were the ones who attacked me if nothing else." Touhou stared at her dumbfoundedly, and as much as he wanted to retort what she said, when he thought back on it she never actually gave any indication that her intentions were malicious, the only thing she did wrong was invite herself into and invade his home the way she did. Shaking his head at himself, Touhou looked back at her wth a fierce expression and said,

"Well, even if you meant to be peaceful things have escalated haven't they? I hope you won't deny this old man the chance to vent some of his frustration at seeing his family defeated." As he spoke Touhou's body grew several feet taller as his old and wrinkly skin started smoothening out until there wasn't a single blemish, his hair then became long and silky black as it seemed to flow around him flawlessly. By the time his transformation was over, he stood slightly taller than her and was dressed in majestic black robes that left part of his chest bare, revealing part of a sun tattoo, while wielding a staff in one hand and now appearing as a beautiful man. As his third eye on his forehead opened sideways, Kuroka's mouth grew into a sinister smile as she replied while taking a stance,

"I wouldn't have had it any other way~Nya."