บท 334: Aftermath

After Grayfia relayed his orders to the rest of the girls, she and Alex then made their way through the rest of the spaceship to find those he knew were still conscious within through his 'Domain'. As could be expected, once the man who had abused them died the girls who were still conscious were free of the influence of his Neotare, and were suffering from the reality that they had suffered until then.

"Yuuki-Kun? Oh god, what have I done?!" Cried out a human girl with shoulder length blue hair and purple eyes, named Sairenji Haruna.

"Rito? Ren? Where are you?" Called out a girl with longer light green hair, member of the planet Memorze royal family, Run Elsie Jewelria. Her pink eyes appeared lifeless as she searched for the man she loved and her long dead twin brother, the one person who had always been with her since birth.

"Oh Saibai, Rito, how can you ever forgive me?!" Cried out a mature woman with shoulder length orange hair and yellow eyes, none other than mother of the same Yuuki Rito that the women around them cried out for as well as the young girl the fat man threw at him earlier, Yuuki Mikan.

Everywhere the duo went was filled with women who were distraught and panicking at the things they had done and the people they had lost, until Alex put them to sleep similarly to those he had fought earlier. Of course he also treated the signs of abuse they had as well as wrapping them all in blankets due to their nakedness. After he treated them Grayfia would then take them to the area of the spaceship where the rest of the women were sleeping peacefully, before rejoining him as he was treating the next one.

Eventually he reached what appeared to be the main bedroom, where Alex found one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen completely naked on the bed with a chain shackled to one of her ankles. She was none other than the former queen of Deviluke and mother of Lala, Nana, and Momo, Sephie Michaela Deviluke. In her normal state of mind she most likely would have noticed Alex approaching and attempted to cover her face to avoid inducing lust in him thanks to her ability as a Charmian, instead she could only cry out while looking at her empty hands,

"Oh Gid, what have I done?!" As she cried he put her to sleep as well before removing the shackles and wrapping her up, while also summoning a veil to cover her face. With Sephie being the last person on the ship needing his attention, Alex carried her to the rest himself where Grayfia was also waiting. Seeing all of the women that had been treated horribly by the one man, Grayfia felt a intense disgust that only increased when she thought of being beside them.

Following Alex's orders, she then took the women directly to the space-time orb for treatment while some of the other girls did the same with the pandoras they had fought outside, and the others rounded up the men that had been manning the other ships. With the women taken for treatment and the men responsible being taken to the place that he instructed the girls, Alex then tried to take a moment to close his eyes and calm himself from the mental stresses of the day. Naturally it was difficult for him to do so within the same spaceship that so many atrocities had taken place, but eventually he heard Hajime's voice say,

"So this is the spaceship? I'm looking forward to tearing this apart!" Alex opened his eyes to find Hajime looking around in awe as Barakiel stood nearby with half a dozen other fallen angels behind him, while Kurumu made her way to him with an uneasy look on her face.

"So you want us to examine every inch of these ships?" Barakiel asked curiously, to which Alex nodded as he stood and said,

"Yes, and then afterwards I want you to destroy all of them." This suprised not just Barakiel, but the fallen angels and Hajime as well before the latter demanded,

"Why would we just destroy all of these amazing ships?!" Instead of Alex answering however, Kurumu piped up,

"I don't know what it is, but there's something I don't like about this place." Alex grimaced as he realized that Kurumu, as a succubus which was sensitive to the energies of lust and love, must have instinctively realized what had taken place there. Piggybacking off of her words, he added,

"Several terrible things took place here. If you wish you can dismantle it, strip it for pieces and scrap the rest, or melt the entire thing down for the metal, I don't care. I just don't want any one of these ships to be left intact once you've learned everything you can about the technology on them." Leaving those words, Alex then left with Kurumu as they returned to where Mikogami, Touhou, Akasha, Issa, and his daughters were waiting.

"What was that about?" Touhou asked curiously, as when the spaceships first arrived Alex had seemed excited and was planning for an actual battle. But then he had gotten angry seemingly out of nowhere, and had stormed off by himself only to return looking as if he had eaten sour grapes. Not wanting to go into details too much, Alex simply said,

"This man was nothing like I thought and hoped, and now I just want to rest." Though Touhou wanted to press further, Mikogami spoke over him and said,

"Aye, and now we have the truth regarding monsters being out in the open as well." Alex nodded in acknowledgment of what Mikogami said, and stated since he had one more thing to do,

"Then you and Touhou are up. Go and address the issue, and I'll clean up here before going to rest." Before anyone could say anything else, Alex summoned his Boosted Gear and started floating upwards.

<BOOST!>

<Finally! It feels like it's been forever since I got to stretch my wings partner.>

Alex almost chuckled despite everything when he heard this, and replied, "I've been neglecting you Ddraig."

<BOOST!>

The Heavenly Dragon chuckled when Alex mentioned neglecting him, and stated,

<BOOST!>

Cutting off his 'boosts', Alex then created a magic circle in his right hand filled with Regeneration magic.

<TRANSFER!>

Transferring the power saved up in the Boosted Gear directly into the magic circle, it immediately swelled to cover the entire ruined city. Not just the group he just left, but all of the people that Anne had evacuated earlier watched in awe as the light of the magic circle covered them, before there a was a low rumble.

As if time itself was rewinding they watched as the buildings that made up their once thriving city began to float in the air, before piecing themselves back together as if nothing happened. Within moments the entire city that had been completely destroyed had been restored to how it looked before anyone had evacuated, making everyone almost wonder if they had been dreaming what had happened earlier, if it wasn't for the figure that still seemed to be glowing in the sky.

Ignoring the gazes of the people below, Alex gestured to the girls to join him while saying, "Let's return to Asora." As Kurumu, Kokoa, and Akua with Kahlua in her arms joined him, Alex gave one last nod to the four people gathered beneath them, before summoning the mist that brought them directly to the Misty Manor. The moment they appeared within its halls Venri was there to greet them by saying,

"Welcome home master, I'm sure the day's events must have been tiring for you." Figuring Grayfia must have already filled her in on what happened, Alex immediately asked,

"Any news?" Venri nodded and stated,

"Yes, all of the women that were victims were brought within the space-time orb and are undergoing various treatments with Spirit and Regeneration magics, while madams Valerie and Kaori have also been brought in to help. However, I was also requested to ask you to stay away from the space-time orb for a day or two, since they aren't able to calm down around men yet." Alex nodded in understanding and thanked Venri for passing on the message as she went to return to help the others, before turning to Kurumu and saying,

"I want you to go and help them since succubi are naturals at mental manipulation." Then, before she could react, Alex placed his finger against her forehead as another magic circle formed at its tip. Kurumu could only stand there and groan as a flood of information filled her mind, before it finally stopped and Alex explained,

"I just granted you Spirit magic since you'll need it to do the most good. I was planning to have you attempt the Great Labyrinths alongside Sun and Moka once we managed to replicate them, but I'll make an exception due to the circumstances." Due to the fact that Alex had never granted someone Age of Gods magic before, the process was undeniably more uncomfortable than what he underwent with the girls when they attempted the Great Labyrinths themselves, as indicated by the minor headache Kurumu was currently feeling and her groaning silently,

"You could have warned me....." Though she said that, Kurumu couldn't help but smile widely once the small ache disappeared a moment later, as she realized how to best use the magic she had just been granted. Alex meanwhile after rubbing the top of her head with an apologetic smile and said,

"Sorry, I haven't given someone Age of Gods magic before. I'll make it up to you later." With her smile widening at Alex's promise, Kurumu quickly stole a kiss from him before rushing to the space-time orb to join the others and try out her new magic. Shaking his head wryly, Alex then turned towards the trio of sisters and said,

"I've got somewhere else to be, so why don't the two of you get Kahlua settled in and catch her up to speed on some things?" With the tanned beauty still shyly refusing to meet his gaze, Kokoa and Akua had to drag her away with wry smiles, though Alex wasn't sure if he saw a bit of mischievousness in their looks as well. Putting whatever antics they might get up to out of his mind, Alex then used Spatial magic to transfer himself to the compound that was home to the Haulia.

"BOSS!" The sharp suited rabbitmen saluted the moment he appeared, to which Alex gave a brief indication that they were dismissed before they carried on doing what they were before he arrived. As he walked through the compound every rabbit that saw him immediately dropped what they were doing and gave him a salute before returning to work, while a couple even ran ahead to Cam's place where Alex was headed. As he arrived Cam was waiting for him, saluting as well before saying,

"Boss! The prisoners have been securely locked away in the dungeons underneath us!" Alex nodded in acknowledgement before saying,

"Good, are the girls still here?" Smiling wryly, Cam stepped aside so that Alex could enter his home, where he found Yue, Shia, and Moka waiting for him while drinking some tea and munching on some snacks. Before getting directly into business, Alex gave Yue and Shia each a kiss before moving onto Moka and asking as their lips parted,

"How do you feel?" Moka didn't need to ask what he meant, as the silver haired vampiress glanced at her own hands before saying,

"Strange. This isn't the longest I've been unsealed before, but knowing that I'm not going to be sealed again is weird..." Alex nodded in agreement, while a part of him also mentally added that he'd miss the pink haired 'outer' Moka as well. Though she didn't say it, Moka was going to miss her as well due to the fact that the two had essentially become like sisters during their time together, though she was ecstatic to have her mother back. Having greeted the three girls, Alex turned towards Cam and ordered,

"Report." At once Can stood to attention as he reported,

"Sir! Each of the prisoners has been locked in the dungeons beneath the compound and we are on standby for our instructions regarding them, SIR!" Alex nodded in affirmation when he heard Cam's report, before saying,

"Good. Normally I would just shuffle these kinds of people off to 'Magical Girl Island', but what they did this time was too much." As Alex mentioned the island Cam shuddered inwardly while a malicious smile appeared on Yue's lips, the petite vampire princess having used the occasion to stay true to her title of 'Crotch Smasher'. Ignoring the rabbitman's reaction, Alex continued,

"So these people will have a different punishment. Cam, I want the Haulia to use these men to practice 'information extraction'." Though he didn't say it outright, Cam looked at Alex seriously as he asked,

"Do you mean you want us to torture them?" Slowly Alex nodded before saying,

"Yes. If I send the Haulia on a mission to gather info then such tactics may be needed since none of you are able to use the same methods as the rest of us. That being the case, why not use the people below us to practice on before the real thing?" As he spoke the evil smile on Cam's face widened until Shia considered slapping her own father silly, before he said,

"And that's why we love you boss! You always give us the best gifts!" Trying to resist the same urge as Shia, Alex simply maintained a smile as he tried some of the snacks the girls were munching on. Elaine had already clarified earlier when she spoke to him that none of the men following 'that' man were innocent, and so Alex had no problem sentencing them to such a fate at the drop of a hat. He then kicked things up a notch as he had a sudden idea, and pulled out a few accessories from his personal storage.

"Put these on a few of them as well, I want you to report to me their effects." Though Cam accepted the items, he couldn't help but make a face at the ring, necklace, and even a pair of earrings that all had jewels in them.

"Boss.....are you sure?" This time Alex didn't hold himself back as he unhesitatingly flicked Cam's forehead with enough strength that the back of his head hit the wall behind him. As the rabbitman struggled to get up Alex explained,

"They're prototype artifacts that I made for the girls and my children, I just haven't been able to test them out so I decided to use this chance to do so." Perking up when they saw that the things he gave to Cam were originally meant for them, Shia immediately asked,

"What do they do Alex?!" There was a bit of pride in Alex's eye as he explained,

"I got the idea from a certain two thousand year old Druid in a book I read once. Basically they are all enchanted with both Regeneration and Spirit magic, while the jewels in them slowly store minute amounts of energy from the person wearing them. Then, if the person wearing it dies, the Regeneration magic will use the stored up energy to slowly heal the wearer until they revive, with the Spirit magic tethering their soul to their body so it doesn't 'move on'."

There was a moment of silence as they all took in Alex's words before understanding dawned on them. While such an artifact could be considered 'excessive' in terms of protection, not everyone around Alex was capable of using Age of Gods magic to bring back the dead. If someone did die somehow, then to bring them back they needed to quickly bring such a person to them before the soul 'moved on'. And in the case of his children, well it was only natural for a parent to want to take extreme precautions.

The first to speak was Yue, who, despite the fact that the artifact was practically useless for her, plopped down onto Alex's lap while facing him and snuggled up to him before saying,

"...I'll love anything Alex gives me..." She then gave him a passionate kiss while also grinding her hips a bit, not caring about Cam's presence in the slightest since she could just teleport him away if things went too far. Though he would usually be more than raring to go with her antics, after the things he saw that day Alex sadly drew back from the kiss and said while gently caressing her face,

"Next time, with interest." Though Yue was visibly saddened by his refusal, she decided to wait since he promised her interest, which she'd make sure to cash in on.

Of course Alex wasn't going to let what he'd seen effect his own 'activities' too much, but he did feel the need to properly wind down and relax before he did. And so, after entrusting the prototype artifacts and the prisoners to Cam, and bidding goodbye to the girls, he took off in a random direction to spend some time alone.

Typically 'relaxing' to Alex meant spending time with either his girls or his children, but one of those felt wrong at the moment and he didn't want his children to see him this way, so instead he decided to find a nice secluded mountain to meditate on top of. As he was trying to decide which mountain, he recalled the towering peaks that Miledy described after her own exploration adventure. Taking out both the magic compass and key, Alex soon found himself facing the tallest mountain he had ever seen in either life.

Ddraig said as Alex recalled Miledy saying that she had actually passed out from lack of oxygen while attempting to climb them before. Alex meanwhile had learned specific breathing techniques from both of his seniors in the Boosted Gear, Belzard and Elsha, designed to maximize the amount of oxygen one breathed in to further enhance their flame breath. Using this technique Alex started to slowly float higher and higher until he passed the point that Miledy reached, and kept going.

Eventually Alex reached a point where even he started having difficulty breathing, and chose to stop there as he landed lightly on the steep ground. After modifying the ground so that it was level, Alex sat down and crossed his legs in a meditative posture.

"Haaaaa, ahhhhh."

Over and over Alex breathed in and out, calming his heart and steadying himself after the day's events. As he did so he simultaneously spread his awareness through his 'Domain', taking in everything within his surroundings at once. Eventually though, Alex's awareness spread to even extend beyond the limit of his 'Domain' until he could sense everything throughout the entire mountain, and even further beyond.