Chương 415: Progress Report

"Ahhhhh..." Alex sighed in contention as Elaine dug her fingers and elbows into the tense muscles in his shoulders, drawing several looks from those around them as they found their seats.

Nearly eight months had passed since Alex had been officially crowned emperor, and now the chief gods and leaders of every faction under him had gathered once again for the meeting Alex usually held around this time. Instead of the small boardroom they used in the past though, now everyone was gathering in a large auditorium with elevated seats in a semicircle, while Alex and Anne were seated at the stage-like bottom, front and center.

While waiting for everyone to finish taking their seats though, Alex had Elaine start massaging his shoulders to relieve a little of the tension built up within them, while Grayfia stood attentively behind them and to the right.

This went on until the very last person finally took their seat, with the first few rows taken up by Alex's own wives and peerage members. The rest of the seats were filled with various gods, Maou, Seraphs, Youkai, Heroes, Mages, high class Devils, Grigori, Dragons, Dagons, Yuuki-Onna, Phoenixes, guild masters, and one very short human King.

With everyone finally settled Alex gently shrugged off Elaine's hands, earning him a quick jab with her pinky that he was pretty sure left a small fracture in his collar bone, despite him being in his SSJ4 form. Shaking his head at her with a wry smile, once the 'angel' maid resumed her place behind him to the left, opposite of Grayfia, he finally said to the gathered people,

"Now then, welcome and thank you all for coming today. Are those of you who haven't been to one of our meetings yet aware of why we are all here?" The question was barely out of Alex's mouth when Azazel piped up,

"Are you finally going to tell us about those new tattoos of yours?" Alex cocked a brow at his question, while everyone else proceeded to drop their gazes to Alex's bare chest.

Since he had been staying in his SSJ4 form for more and more time, to the point where it seemed like he was in that form more often than not, Alex had long since forgone even wearing shirts since they were uncomfortable on top of the layer of red fur covering most of his upper body. This however left his pecs completely bare, something Alex didn't have a problem with, but still left a series of swirling black tattoos exposed to others gazes.

These weren't the only ones though, as the swirling design extended to cover all of Alex's chest, stomach, back, arms, and even down to his thighs. Naturally these new additions to his body drew the curiosity of quite a few people, especially so since they only appeared after Alex returned from a week long trip of self isolation in the deep recesses of space. But no matter how intensely he was questioned by those around him, even his own wives and children, Alex kept his lips sealed so that the only ones who knew anything were himself, Ddraig, Lauren, and Elaine.

Of course, that didn't mean that anyone stopped trying to pressure him to tell them what they were for, his secretiveness only making them want to know even more. So, as Alex stayed silent at Azazel's question, Odin piped up with his one eye seeming to shine for a second,

"I can't say for what, but I think it's a seal of some kind." This prompted everyone to begin discussing amongst themselves as they tried to figure out what Alex might have sealed on his body.

"Maybe it's to seal his horniness?" One person said, to which one of the more shameless women replied from the front row,

"No, his sex drive hasn't slowed at all..... If anything I'd say it's only increased since he got them..." With the rest of Alex's wives, embarressedly, nodding in agreement, someone else said,

"Maybe he's sealing his own strength as a form of training or something?" However Shia quickly piped up,

"No that's not it, in fact Alex has almost completely stopped training since he got them, the only thing he actively does anymore is spar with Elaine. If I need him to spar with me then I need to ask him myself, and it feels to me like Alex has still been getting even stronger without training.....so unfair..." With Shia drooping down at the unfairness of it, Alex then said,

"I didn't realize you developed the same interests as Tio, Shia..... Don't worry, I'll be more active in beating you up in the future from now on, you filthy pervert." Shia's head immediately snapped up at Alex's claims, as she desperately cried out,

"NOOOOOOO! I'M NOT A PERVERT LIKE TIO!" Rather than take her claims seriously though, Tio this time interjected,

"Oh my! This one is pleased that thou has developed the same interests as mineself Shia." Of course, Tio's words seemed to devastate Shia even further, prompting Yue to gently take one of Shias hands in her own as she consoled her.

"...Don't worry Shia...I know you'll never be like that pervert...." Shia looked up at the petite vampiress with tears in her eyes as she cried out,

"Yue...."

With Yue consoling Shia, Alex cleared his throat and continued,

"Anyways, the reason we call these meeting at least once a year is to discuss the running of Asora, how the people are doing, if there's any changes we need to make, and any major future events. This time of course things are a little different due to us being connected to more worlds. So, before moving onto the things I need to discuss, is there anything to be reported about your various factions?"

This opened the floor for the respective rulers to begin reporting how their own factions were doing, which was mostly more of the same. The largest difference with each group was how many of their people were no longer in their homelands due to them either migrating to Asora, or attending the Academy. The second biggest difference though, was how many of their people now dedicated the majority of their time to becoming stronger.

For most beings it was considered strange for someone to actively train to increase their own strength, instead only ever relying on the strength they developed naturally throughout their lifetime. This however had changed after Alex and his peerage members completely dominated the battlefield when they fought the most powerful collection of beings that had ever been assembled.

Now numerous gods, Devils, Angels, and everything in between were driving themselves to become stronger for the first time in history.

The bigger news though was what was currently going on in both Heaven and the Underworld, both of which were experiencing their first ever baby boom thanks to Alex modifying the system of Heaven, and Anne's elixir to induce pregnancy. Though she had a strict selection process to prevent overuse and over populations, almost every couple that came to her qualified to acquire one.

Aside from the Angels that had been unable to even attempt to bear children until then, there were also many Devil and Fallen Angel couples that had been trying to conceive for decades or even centuries. With literally hundreds of couples coming to Anne over the months since Alex's coronation, and hundreds more that were making appointments, Heaven and the Underworld were bound to experience an extreme level of growth over the next several years.

They weren't the only ones expecting growth though, as with all the people moving to Asora there had been more than a dozen villages established far out into the wilds, each one connected to the Capitol through a portal. Though several were simply rural villages filled with those who wanted a simpler life, other settlements were more intricate, such as the three dwarven clans that had migrated from Asgard and were currently busy trying to mine out a new home within the largest mountains in Asora, which Alex sneakily filled with numerous valuable ores and rare gems for them to dig up.

With all of the village leaders reporting everything going ok within their new homes, they then moved on to the next topic, the Academy. Sona then reported to them how, though there were a few hiccups in the beginning, the Academy was now smoothly running with all of its new students, and that a number of peerages had formed other than the initial three. She did however have to expel a few of the students that came from noble or wealthy backgrounds, and apparently hadn't believed her when she told them that their status meant nothing to her. After violating the rules of the Academy three times, they were swiftly sent back home to parents that were either furious at her that their children were treated in such a way, or at their own children for throwing away the greatest opportunity they could've had.

After Sona was Hajime, who reported on the progress of the various projects he was working on. With Brigid taking over the majority of the miscellaneous small projects that he had been cluttered with, Hajime had been able to finish three of the replica Great Labyrinths in recent months, the Orcus, Raisen Great Canyon, and Gruen Grand Volcano labyrinths. All three of which were operating without issue even with the extras that they added, making the labyrinths marginally less lethal yet significantly more challenging, and he planned to finish the replica of the Frost Caverns of Schnee in the next few weeks.

Once Hajime finished reporting the status of his projects, Artemis stood and began detailing the progress her huntresses had made in exploring the wilds of Asora, of which they had only covered less than one percent. Despite this though, the amount of land that they had explored equaled more than a continent and stood to show just how vast Asora was. Of course, at Alex's insistence the huntresses also returned to the Capitol once a month to resupply and turn in their findings to the Grigori.

Then they got to the current state of Earthland, or more specifically Fiore, leading to the longest report Alex received yet. Thanks to all the aide Alex provided to Fiore they were almost completely recovered economically, their fields had been restored months previously with the first harvest due soon, and they were rebuilding the herds of livestock. By this point the most lingering issues regarding Darius was the remaining trauma that everyone had experienced, and the lowered populations after so many people died against them, or from the poor conditions they were forced to endure afterwards.

Though the first problem could only be fixed with time, the lower numbers of population began to resolve itself recently as more and more people from neighboring kingdoms began to migrate to Fiore. Currently they were recovering the fastest from the damages Darius caused them, and with the only remaining mages guilds residing within their borders, Fiore was quickly becoming the most powerful country on the continent of Ishgar, if not all of Earthland. Naturally, many people would want to move from the poorer countries in search of work, and to feed their families.

Toma even informed Alex that soon he was planning to send aide to the other countries in the form of supplies and laborers to help them rebuild, plunging their various rulers further and further into his debt. This would help greatly in gaining their loyalty in the future, making the path forward even smoother for when his daughter, Hisui, took over, after she gave birth to her child of course. Toma also made sure to tell Alex how she was doing, even though Alex already knew due to visiting her as often as he could, and the reports he regularly received from the combat maids watching over her.

As the comically short king finished his report, another comically short man stood to report to Alex how the Mage guilds in Earthland were doing, namely that they were now taking less and less jobs related to rebuilding Fiore, and were beginning to resume the more typical jobs they took in the past. While Markarov saying this wouldn't usually carry much weight, as Fairy Tail was located in the same city that the gate to Asora had been built, and as such had been the first to be restored to its prime, the rest of the attending guild masters gave similar reports as the cities they were based in also entered the last stages of recovery.

They all also mentioned that there was a boom in the amount of people wanting to join the different guilds and learn magic, the majority of which the various guild masters were only too happy to take in. And with several students at the Academy showing interest in Earthland and the guilds there, the future of mages in Earthland was looking very bright.

It was at that point though that Markarov showed a shit eating grin as he then said,

"We're even putting together our own team to join those games of yours." With the rest of the guild masters and even Toma stating that they were doing the same, the various leaders of the different factions also became excited at finally being able to see Earthland mages in action.

Shortly after his coronation Alex was approached by numerous officials of the Rating Games regarding moving them to Asora, to which Alex readily agreed. They had been wanting to host the games themselves for a while, but with only so many different teams available Alex decided to wait until they reconnected with DXD to do so.

Now, with the changing of the rules to accommodate the non-devil players, there were well over a hundred different teams throughout the different factions that played in the games, bringing a new era to them that made them more exciting than ever before. Meanwhile from Asora Alex also got in on the action, along with Rias, Sona, Sairaorg, Vali, Ravel, Seekvaira, and even Roygun after Alex petitioned her return to the games.

There was also the forming of numerous new teams to participate, such as Yue leading a team composed entirely of vampires with Moka as her 'Queen', which the latter only agreed to since she also wanted to fight, but didn't want to create her own team. Grayfia was one of those who was given the first round of peerage pieces as they were released in Asora, the members of which she readily brought into the games as a way to make them regularly experience real combat and strategy.

The one who surprised everyone though was Shizuku, as even she made her own team consisting of her former classmates, the women who were learning swordsmanship from her, and even several members of the Yeagashi clan who wanted to support her. Of course though, all of them would fight alongside Alex when he decided to participate in the games, unless they were the ones he was competing against.

Another new team was Bova's, which consisted entirely of dragons that either belonged to Tio's clan, joined them in the Roasrio Vampire world, or were amongst those who began to idolize Bova after witnessing his battle against Tiamat. Of course Tiamat became his 'Queen', and gave Bova no room to argue on the subject.

So, with the games again entering a new age, and even being projected in the major cities in Earthland to also give them a form of entertainment, everyone began to excitedly look forward to the new waves of contestants that would soon participate.

With everyone wrapping up their various reports and few concerns, this time Alex stood as he declared,

"Now that everything else is out of the way, I also have a big announcement. I've decided the next two worlds that we will be visiting." There was a small commotion at this, as those who had been a part of Asora knew that he would usually make such an announcement around this time, while those who were attending for the first time grew excited. Barakiel however asked with confusion,

"'Two'? Isn't the second one still a ways off?" With many more people looking to Alex with confusion, he nodded before explaining

"Indeed, but that's only if you take my ability to hop worlds into account." He then looked towards Anne at his side and continued,

"My empress, Anne, also possesses the ability to hop worlds, which she has been keeping in reserve since reuniting out of safety, in case something happened at one of the world's we went to and needed to leave quickly. Now that we have the portals operational, and my own strength has grown so much this past year, I believe that this is no longer a concern. As such, I have already discussed with Anne about using her turn to transfer worlds within the next couple of weeks, where we will spend the next month establishing ourselves until the cool down for my own transfer ends."

Again there was a small commotion at Alex's explanation as everyone grew excited not just from getting to see a new world, but getting to see two in rapid succession. Again, this only went on until Azazel this time asked,

"And what worlds are these two going to be?" Alex didn't immediately answer as a smile formed on his face, and he said,

"The one I'll be opening the way to will be the same universe that my race, the Saiyans, comes from. A universe filled with beings capable of destroying planets and even entire universes." The loudest commotion yet erupted in the hall as everyone began to discuss this latest news with varied reactions, some excited to see such a universe, while others were nervous due to disparity in strength between themselves and denizens of this new world.

This went on until Alex raised his hand to get their attention back to himself, and they began to settle down as he continued,

"The one Anne will be opening the way to first though will be marginally less 'intense', but I believe there are many benefits to going there. One will be numerous machines that Lala, Hajime, and the Grigori will be able to acquire and examine, while there will also be numerous monsters unlike any we've seen yet for our people to test their strength against while Tamers, like Lucy, also add them to our rosters."

When they heard this both girls in question looked excited, as Lala always loved taking things apart to see how they worked, while Lucy was eager to see these new kinds of monsters and befriend them. Alex however continued,

"One of the biggest advantages I hope to acquire there though is something that, if it works the way I hope, will be able to actually change a persons 'class' and even grant them all new abilities based on how much they've mastered it. Something that will hopefully benefit anyone interested in combat but were born without any type of powers or Sacred Gears, Dresspheres." This of course caught several people's attention, while Hajime's expression lit up as he recalled where he knew that term from.

"What are Dresspheres?" Rias asked while tilting her head cutely, making Alex's smile widen as he quickly explained,

"As I said they can change a persons class and grant them certain powers when used, similar to the peerage pieces. But unlike say the 'Rook' or 'Knight' which will simply increase a person defense, strength, or speed, Dresspheres will grant those that use them special combat attire and weapons, AND up their various stats while also granting abilities that completely unique to the sphere that is being used at the time. There are spheres like 'Gunner', 'Warrior', 'Thief', 'Black Mage', White Mage', 'Berserker', 'Alchemist', and many more that can be used. Perhaps, with our own tech and magic, we'll even be able to create more types of Dresspheres ourselves in the future."

As he said this Alex looked at Hajime in particular, who looked as if he was going to cream his pants at any time at the mere thought of going to the world's Alex was hinting at.

"And what's this world called again?" Someone asked, to which Alex smirked as he said,

"It's a world that had spent the last thousand years ravaged by a creature simply called Sin, which will hopefully already be defeated by the time we arrive. It's the homeland of races we haven't seen before like the Ronso, Guado, and many other...things, as well as the very same sport that has become so popular amongst our youth, especially the Dagons, Blitzball. The land of Spira." (A.N. Final Fantasy X-2)