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"Boosted Gear, huh? Its effect kinda overlaps with the Eight Gates…"Riku rubbed his chin in thought.
Still, it wasn't useless. Boosted Gear was seriously powerful—not just raw strength boosts like the Eight Gates.And if he totally disregarded his body's limits and combined the two?That power boost would be straight-up terrifying.
Of course, only if his body could actually take it. Otherwise, he'd just explode before even using the power.What a dumb way to die.
"Whatever. It's a damn fine prize for a Diamond chest."Riku shook his head, clearing his thoughts.
"Oh right, System, let me ask—Is Ddraig's dragon soul still sealed in this thing? 'Cause if it is, I don't want it."He frowned, dead serious.He wasn't about to let some dragon watch him banging his future wife, okay?
"Nope. Only pure power remains inside. No impurities. No curse from the Sacred Gear, either."The system responded calmly.
"Heh. Nice."Riku finally looked satisfied.
For once, the system had actually done something right.
"Riku, what did you find?"Schwi asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Yeah, you could say that. You'll meet them soon enough." Riku said with a cheerful smile.
"Aww, can't you at least give us a hint, Master?" Jibril pouted in disappointment. Curiosity kills the cat, and right now, her curiosity about Riku was about to burst through the roof. It was eating her alive.
"That's... a secret," Riku replied slowly, with a sly grin. Jibril and Schwi both looked at him with mock resentment.
"Haha, what a lively bunch. Different races gathered together like this—what a miracle. Do you need anything else? If not, I'll send you on your way," the wise dragon said with a chuckle. "I'm really weak right now and need to rest in my dimensional space."
"Alright, thanks for everything this time." Riku nodded and thanked him.
"No need to thank me. After all... you're pretty much my commander now," the wise dragon replied seriously.
With that, he stopped talking and immediately sent Riku and the others out of his space.
Once they were out, Riku thought about it for a moment. He didn't feel like lingering any longer, so he decided to head back.
But first, he wanted to make a quick detour to the vampires' base—not to recruit them into the alliance or anything, but to snag the platinum treasure chest hidden there.
To Riku, it didn't really matter whether the vampires joined the alliance. In his eyes, they weren't even worth considering compared to the other races he had his eye on.
But halfway through the journey, Jibril suddenly stopped.
"Jibril? What's wrong?" Riku frowned, puzzled as he looked at her slightly awkward smile.
"Sorry, Master. I think we've got a bit of a problem. Looks like they finally noticed something was off with me... and they're coming, with a whole army." Jibril said apologetically.
"Riku, I'm detecting a hundred powerful spirit signatures about a thousand kilometers out. Race confirmed: Flugel." Schwi looked off into the distance and reported calmly.
"A hundred Flugel... they must've found out about Lord Riku's power," Zhu Yue said gravely.
Being discovered by the Flugel ahead of schedule definitely wasn't good news.
"If they want a fight, then let's give them one." Riku's voice was calm, and his tone didn't hold back at all.
"Got it." Zhu Yue nodded, her eyes filled with battle spirit.
Jibril also gave a small nod in agreement.
Now that the decision had been made, no one continued the journey. Instead, they silently prepared to face what was coming.
Before long, a hundred small black dots appeared in the distant sky—it was the Flugel.
As god-slaying weapons, it was incredibly rare for the Flugel to mobilize this many at once. Normally, only a god or someone on the level of the wise dragon would warrant such a deployment.
But today, for Riku, their commander Azril didn't hesitate to send out a full quarter of their total strength. That's how serious Riku's power was to her.
"Meow meow meow, Little Jib! I'm so glad you're okay! Don't worry, I'm here to rescue you!" Azril said cheerfully from about a kilometer away, smiling brightly at the perfectly unharmed Jibril.
"Azril, don't worry about me. I've already pledged myself to my new Master, Lord Riku. I'm not coming back." Jibril said, sighing helplessly.
"Little Jib, you must be brainwashed! That's the only explanation. Don't worry, I'll save you!" Azril said angrily, convinced she'd figured everything out.
The other Flugel around her all radiated bloodlust, glaring intensely.
Jibril twitched slightly at the corners of her mouth. Azril was great at many things—she was the strongest Flugel, on par with the Dragonborn—but her intelligence... not so much. That said, she was a genius at battle and tactics, otherwise she wouldn't be their commander.
Still, her lack of brainpower was making this super annoying for Jibril. Like—do I look like I've been brainwashed?
To be honest, Jibril didn't want to fight her former sisters right here and now. Even if they were destined to clash eventually, starting a war here would ruin Riku's plans.
"That's enough delusional talk. If you've come to wipe us out, then show us what you've got. Let's see if you even can." Riku stepped forward, arms crossed, speaking with a cool, calm voice.
"Meow meow meow... a monkey?!" Azril and the other Flugel all stared at Riku in total confusion, completely caught off guard.
They had been a little puzzled seeing Dragonborn Zhu Yue here, but hadn't thought much of it. Their attention had been focused on Schwi, the Ex-Machina.
After all, someone who could defeat the wise dragon might logically be a combined unit of the Ex-Machina—nothing too shocking.
The Ex-Machina had once slain Yeen the Dragon and his seven sub-dragons, after all.
What they hadn't expected at all... was that the one they had completely overlooked—the human, the "monkey"—was actually the leader.
To the Flugel, humans were just monkeys. Leaders from the monkey race? Worthless. Not even worth glancing at.
But this monkey had defeated the wise dragon, captured Jibril, and apparently had both the Ex-Machina and Dragonborn following him. Their brains just... shut down. They couldn't process it.
A human? Doing that?
"..."