บท 472: Opening The Tournament

As the spectators cheered and the colosseum rumbled with their excitement, Alex was currently laid back in his family's private viewing room. Or rather, it was supposed to be private.

Also in the room with them was Zeno, who wanted to play with Alex's children while they waited for the main event to start, which meant that the Grand Priest was also present with Zeno's guards, each of the gods of destruction, and their own attendants. Alex didn't mind though as he had Marcarita use Spatial magic to expand the room even more, giving everyone more than enough space to relax.

This earned not only Marcarita, but also Kusu and Vados the side eye from their father, fellow Angels, and former charges as they all quickly noticed the difference with the three Angels.

Champa, Belmond, and Rumsshi all appeared annoyed from seeing their former attendants that had been 'stolen' from them, though none of them would dare voice such sentiments out loud with the Grand Priest or Zeno present. The Grand Priest and their siblings however were all immediately aware of the fact that the three sisters had grown even more powerful in the short time they had started following Alex, which brought a slight twinkle to the Grand Priest's eye.

"It appears my daughters have experienced quite a bit in the short time they have been under your care, lord Dragon Emperor." The Grand Priest said probingly, to which Alex replied without caution,

"I had them clear what we call the Six Great Labyrinths, all of which award those who clear them a powerful type of magic that's called the Age of Gods magics. On top of that they have been studying the different forms of magic that we've encountered in different universes, and I upgraded their scepters to be more powerful and useful."

The three sisters puffed out their chests and stood up a bit straighter at Alex's words, as if showing off the privilege they had as Alex's personal attendants. Their siblings were, understandably, more than a little annoyed at their attitude, but none were more annoyed than Champa, who had more reason to dislike Alex than the others.

Not only did he lose his attendant to Alex, but the Dragon Emperor had also entered his own universe to take his Saiyans away from him. While the god of destruction wouldn't usually bemoan losing one or two planets, as it was his job to destroy them to begin with, the Saiyans had been the center of attention for the entire universe after they declared war on the space pirates, and proceeded to wipe them out in a matter of days.

While normally Champa would know about such developments immediately, he no longer had Vados serving him to alert him of such things. So, he had been entirely unaware of what was going on until after Alex had moved the entire planet of Sadala into Asora, and taken what could have been his greatest asset from him.

Alex of course ignored Champa as he had more important things to focus on, like the bundle of grapes Yui was currently dangling in front of him while she snuggled up to his side with a red face, allowing him to eat them at his leisure. On Alex's others side on the comfy couch they had set up was the Earthland Princess Hisui, who was holding the excited and babbling Jade in her arms.

While the rest of Alex's present wives and children were also on incredibly comfy couches, chairs, or mats, the gods of destruction were only given metallic folding chairs to sit on as they spectated the tournament. None dared voice their discomfort though, but they did perk their ears up as Zeno asked,

"By the way Alex, wouldn't this tournament be more fun if we included fighters from ALL the universes?" With everyone else looking at him pointedly, as they DID allow fighters from Asora, DXD, and Earthland to participate, Alex replied,

"Maybe after this one, but the point of this tournament is to compare the fighters of Universe Seven specifically, and to show underdeveloped planets like Earth just how weak they actually are from over relying on weapons like guns. I even limited the fighters from planet Sadala to just Sala and Caulifla since they're my wives."

Though several wanted to comment on the blatant favoritism Alex was showing to Sala and Caulifla, the various gods held their tongues about this as well as they instead focused on the first thing Alex mentioned, about how they'd be able to send their own fighters out in future tournaments.

"How often are you thinking of holding these tournaments lord Dragon Emperor?" The Grand Priest asked curiously, making Alex consider his answer for a moment before finally saying,

"Probably every four or five years. That'll give everyone adequate time to prepare between tournaments for the next one." Though such a timeframe would seem too short for the immortal gods and Angels, they knew it would feel like quite a long time for the rapidly aging mortals.

With each of them feeling marginally more excited than before about being able to show off the prowess of their own fighters in the future, the gods settled in on their metal chairs as they watched the blonde announcer open the tournament.

"HELLOOOOOOOOO EVERYONE!"

The announcer cried out after asking if they were ready to rumble, before continuing,

"Today is the much anticipated start of the first ever, UNIVERSAL GRAND TOURNAMENT!"

Not just Pangea, but every single planet in Universe Seven cheered at the start of the tournament as they watched the live projections on their home worlds, each one cheering for their respective fighters and champions. It was only when they FINALLY started quieting down that the announcer continued,

"For those of you who don't know me, I'm the announcer guy from the World Martial Arts Tournaments in the original Dragon Ball, and I've been specially invited here by the Dragon Emperor himself to be the announcer for you all!" Though not as loud, there was several cheers this time as well that mostly came from the earthlings that had come to watch the tournament, due to representation they were getting in such a large event.

Again, when the cheers started to die off, the announcer continued as he gestured to another floating stand with numerous individuals on it,

"And here we have our panel of commentators that will keep our amazing audience informed on any terms and abilities that are foreign to us viewers, and will run a commentary on our participants as they duke it out to determine WHO IS NUMBER ONE!"

With that said, the announcer gave control over to the panel of commentators as they introduced themselves, beginning with the fat man with pink skin and a Mohawk.

"Greetings everyone, and welcome one and all to our first ever tournament. I am the Grand Supreme Kai of Universe Seven, and am glad to see so many participants and fans that have come to cheer them on." Though most people in the audience didn't know what the Kai were, there was still an eager round of applause from the five people that had also occupied a corner of Alex's private viewing room, Shin with the other three Supreme Kai, along with Elder Kai after Alex freed him.

Moving on, the next person to speak up was one Alex was very familiar with, as he lazily greeted everybody,

"Hello there everyone. I'm the head of Asora's research and development department, as well as the former Governor General of the Fallen Angels, Azazel." This time there was a louder round of applause from the Fallen angels in the audience, which trailed off awkwardly as Azazel took a swig of alcohol despite still being on camera.

After him was the third person on the panel of commentators, who was directly sitting on their table instead in a chair like the rest as he held up a peace sign and said,

"Hey everyone! I'm Markarov of the mages guild Fairy Tail, and I'll say now that I feel sorry for anyone who has to face any of my brats in the upcoming matches!" Laughing boisterously at his brave claims, Azazel immediately began trying to make bets with Markarov involving the tournament, leaving the next person to introduce themselves with a somewhat troubled expression,

"Greetings everyone, and thank you all for coming. I am Anne Morningstar, main wife and empress of Alexander Morningstar." Anne received the greatest applause yet at her introduction, which might've had more to do with her dancers attire than her position as Alex's empress, not that anyone would tell her that.

With Anne introducing herself, that left their last commentator as Ajuka Beezlebub stood and announced himself.

"Hello everyone, I am Ajuka of the four Maou who rule the Underworld. I am honored to be here as your commentator today, and will do my best to keep everyone informed and entertained for the duration of the tournament!" When Ajuka finished even Alex applauded him, as the Maou was looking significantly better now than he was when they first returned to the DXD world.

When the applause died down once again though, Alex reluctantly stood as the announcer cried out,

"Now it's time for the man himself! Presenting the Dragon Emperor, ALEXANDER MORNINGSTAR!"

The loudest applause yet erupted throughout the colosseum as Alex appeared in mid air next to the announcer, his pitch black mane and thick red fur flowing along with his shorts in the nonexistent wind.

As the applause continued Alex raised his hands until they were about as high as his shoulders, before lowering them slowly as the cheers began to slowly die down as well. Once it was completely silent once again, Alex spoke with his normal voice even as it magically carried to every corner of Pangea,

"Greetings, and welcome to each and every one of you amazing people that has made the trip to Pangea." Again there was an outburst of cheers at Alex's words, but with a single raised hand they quickly died down as he continued,

"Today is an unprecedented day for Universe Seven. For the first time, races of each and every planet have gathered from all corners of the universe for a single purpose, to throw the best they have at each other and see who comes out on top!" This time Alex let the cheers go on for a moment before he indicated for it to die down, and he continued,

"Today is merely the first day of such a massive and unprecedented event though. Today we will have the preliminaries to determine who the lucky 64 people will be that get to participate in the competition." As Alex spoke, the great monitor on the south side of the colosseum lit up to show the same number of name plates as what he previously said. Then, they moved into their new places as he continued explaining how the tournament would work.

"Once we have our 64 contestants, they will be broken up randomly into four different brackets of sixteen. Then, beginning tomorrow, the people of bracket one will duke it out until they have their finalist, before bracket two does the same the day after and so on. Once the four people from each bracket has been decided, then on the sixth day of the tournament our four will compete in the semifinals, before the last two determine who our winner, and the strongest fighter in Universe Seven will be!"

As Alex finished speaking the people erupted in the loudest cheers yet, which he allowed to go on for a couple minutes before signaling for silence once more. When it was quiet again, Alex then said in a more somber tone,

"Unfortunately, I will NOT be participating in the tournament myself-" Before Alex could finish what he was going to say there was an eruption of jeers and complaints from the people who wanted to see Alex himself fight, while battle junkies like Goku grew upset that they wouldn't get the chance to test their strength against him.

"SILENCE!" Alex cried out, making the colosseum completely silent once again before he continued,

"While I will NOT be participating in the tournament itself, on the seventh day there will be a three-way exhibition match between myself, the champion of the tournament, and the god of destruction of Universe Seven himself, BEERUS!"

Rather than cheers, the entire colosseum erupted into mutters and whispering as they learned that they'd get to see THE god of destruction himself fight, making them much more excited for the end of the tournament. Smiling at this, Alex then directed his attention to the thousands of fighters gathered before him as he said,

"Now then, we will begin the preliminaries to determine which of you will be the lucky 54 that get to participate in the tournament!" Rather than excitement though, there were numerous mutterings as people grew confused since Alex said 64 earlier. He however didn't say anything about the mistake until one of the contestants asked,

"I thought you 64 earlier?!" Alex looked down at the man, and said,

"I did, but ten of the contestants have already been decided upon, and will compete without entering the preliminaries." There was, of course, numerous cries of outrage at this as Alex was accused of favoritism and fixing the tournament in his favor, which he ignored for a couple minutes until he indicated for silence once again.

Though it took a minute, everyone eventually quieted down, but now they mostly had angry expressions on their faces as they concluded that this tournament was a sham. Alex of course didn't care as he calmly told them,

"The ten individuals hat I previously mentioned are amongst the most powerful warriors in both Universe Seven and Asora, making their participation in the preliminaries a moot point. Plus there is another point to me giving them special treatment like this..." As Alex trailed off her let everyone hang onto his words for a moment, before he continued,

"These ten are to be the targets of everyone here. But, if none of you are yet convinced, then I invite you meet them yourselves! Introducing the Berserker Bunny, SHIA HAULIA!"

As Alex cried out her name, the space next to him began fracturing as cracks spiderwebbed outwards from the center, before shattering like glass as Shia stepped through the hole in space that she'd created. With her beloved hammer Druken in hand, the rabbit-girl's aura exploded outward in suffocating waves that made the vast majority of the gathered contestants flinch.

Smirking at Shia's entrance and the others reactions, Alex then cried out the name of the second seeded constant, "VALI LUCIFER!"

While Shia made her entrance as flashy as possible, a magic circle with the crest of Lucifer appeared on the ground next to her that flashed with demonic light, before dying down to reveal the silver haired figure of Alex's own rival. Again, unlike Shia, Vali didn't try to oppress the other contestants or anything, instead scoffing while rolling his eyes like the current theatrics was a waste of his time. But then again, so would facing a bunch of weaklings just to be able to participate in the tournament to begin with.

With Vali having made his entrance, Alex continued as he said, "Now introducing the head of military affairs in Asora, SAIRAORG BAEL!

As his name was called, Sairaorg made a much less flashy entrance the previous two as he simply walked up onto stage alongside the metallic lion Regulus Nemia. Despite his easy-going appearance though, the pressure emitted by both himself and Regulus Nemia was enough to make anyone too close to him sweat from nerves.

"One of Asora's head researchers alongside Azazel, NAGUMO HAJIME!"

This time a weathered an ancient looking door appeared out of nowhere next to Sairaorg, before slowly creaking open on its own to reveal a young man with pure white hair, a black eyepatch, and a thick leather jacket covering his body while his two trusty sidearms hung on his hips.

*CRACKLE*

Red lightning danced across Hajime's body as he stepped though the ancient door, which slammed shut behind him as the sound of it locking sounded out.

"The Silver Haired Queen of Annihilation, GRAYFIA LUCIFUGE!"

At Alex's cry the woman in question appeared through her silver magic circle, dressed in her trademarked maid attire with her head down as if in submission. But when she raised it to look out over the crowds, there were numerous sharp intakes of breaths as anyone who made eye contact with her felt suffocated.

"The greatest warrior of the western quadrant of the universe, PIKKON!"

Like Sairaorg, the warrior in question slowly stepped up to his place besides Grayfia, where he crossed his arms as he watched the rest of the contestants with what appeared to be indifference. Pikkon was a green skinned humanoid with thick pink lips, attired in flowing white robes and a blue shirt underneath that were SIGNIFICANTLY heavier than they appeared.

"The greatest warrior of the northern quadrant of the universe, SON GOKU!"

Goku was by far the most easygoing of the people Alex called forth so far, as he used Instant Transmission to teleport directly next to Pikkon, and waved at the rest of the contestants while chuckling with a smile on his face.

Though he thought he'd have to replace the next name on his list with his father, Alex was pleasantly surprised to see the person in question enter the colosseum at the last moment looking like his self imposed exile wasn't in vane. So, a smirk on his lips as he compared them to their past self, Alex called out,

"The former Prince of the Universe Seven Saiyans, VEGETA JR!"

Goku and the other Saiyans that were mixed in the rest of the contestants looked up in shock as the same Vegeta stepped out when he heard his name called that had disappeared a little under six months prior. Except when he disappeared his strength and energy had been sealed by Alex to teach him a lesson, but now a powerful aura was being radiated by his body, showing that both seals were no longer in place, and that Vegeta was now significantly stronger than when he vanished.

On top of his newfound strength, Vegeta also seemed to possess numerous scars on his body from him having to fight for his life just to survive in the wilds of Pangea without his strength. And while he sneered at those before him, Alex could also feel that Vegeta had changed quite a bit during his time alone in the wilds, and he just hoped it was for the better.

But, right as Vegeta was about to say something, two suffocatingly powerful auras descended upon the colosseum, auras that shocked all of those who recognized them as their expressions contorted in rage. Soon, the source of those same auras became visible as they descended into the colosseum from above together, their very presence inspiring fear in all who knew their faces, even if they couldn't feel their auras.

Upon locating them, Goku, Vegeta Jr, Trunks, Vegeta Sr, Bardock, and Raditz all went Super Saiyan as they went on guard, making the smaller of the two figures smirk as he sneered down at them,

"Greetings, you filthy little monkeys."