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Azril suddenly noticed the overwhelming power inside Riku—and her expression changed. This strength was greater than that of the Flugel.
"Man, you guys say the most annoying stuff." Riku glanced coldly at the Flugel army in the distance.
"Zhu Yue, Jibril. You two stay back. Just protect Schwi." Riku said calmly as he started walking forward.
"Thank you, Master." Jibril gave a rare, genuine smile. She knew exactly why Riku didn't want her to fight.
"Riku... once again, I'm useless. Schwi can't help, only drag you down..." Schwi's eyes dimmed slightly—she hated this feeling of helplessness.
"But Lord Riku..." Zhu Yue started, clearly conflicted.
"Zhu Yue, I want to test out a new power. Don't get in my way." Riku replied, still calm.
"A new power?" Zhu Yue froze in surprise.
Jibril and Schwi both turned in shock. Already a new power? That fast?
Without another word, Riku summoned the Boosted Gear, the Red Dragon Emperor's gauntlet.
In an instant, a bright red gauntlet appeared on Riku's right hand, with a glowing emerald gem in the center. It radiated a terrifying presence.
"That's... dragon energy? But it's different from our Dragonborn kind..." Schwi muttered in awe, eyes locked on the gauntlet.
"Master, just how many secrets are you hiding?! You're making me more and more obsessed~!" Jibril giggled in her usual fangirl mode, eyes full of crazed admiration.
Schwi, meanwhile, was silently analyzing the gauntlet's structure and power.
"Meow meow meow—how the hell does a human have Dragonborn powers?!" On the other side, Azril and the other Flugel were stunned. They had no idea what was going on anymore.
Riku's power had forced them to stop calling him "monkey." This guy, who supposedly beat the wise dragon, had a good relationship with Zhu Yue and now even showed signs of Dragonborn abilities? Azril couldn't make sense of it.
"You're not gonna attack? Fine, then I'll start." Riku said flatly, completely ignoring their confusion.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Riku vanished—and reappeared right next to Azril, throwing a punch.
BOOM—air exploded from the force, and his fist grew rapidly in Azril's mismatched eyes.
At the last second, Azril used Heaven Shift to dodge the attack.
But Azriel dodged just in time—unlike the unfortunate Winged One behind her. Even though they reacted, Liku's punch shattered their shield instantly. The poor Winged One coughed up blood, got sent flying like a shooting star, and vanished into the distance.
"Meow meow meow—this human actually knows our Winged Ones' Sky Shift?! And he's this strong?!" Azriel stared at Liku in disbelief, her expression growing tense.
"Teams One through Nine, form up and surround the enemy. Team Ten—get Little J out of here!" she barked.
Each team consisted of ten individuals. That was how Winged Ones fought in groups.
"Understood!" The Winged Ones immediately followed orders with perfect coordination, tightly encircling Liku. Even the injured one had been teleported back and was now glaring at Liku with fury.
At the same time, ten Winged Ones rushed toward Shu Yue's position, standing ready for a showdown.
"This Life-and-Death Fruit is insane. After breaking through and rebuilding, my strength's gotten to the point where I can go toe-to-toe with Winged Ones now." Despite being surrounded by 90 Winged Ones, known as "Living War Machines," Liku stayed cool and even sounded impressed by his own power.
He knew he'd gotten way stronger—but without a real comparison, he wasn't sure how strong. He'd just had a huge fight with Cong Long, and honestly, it'd be awkward to ask the dragonkin to spar again.
Even if he wanted to, the others probably wouldn't. Who wants to get beat up for no reason?
So this Winged Ones raid was actually the perfect chance to test out his new limits.
While Liku was quietly marveling at his strength, Shu Yue, Jibril, and Zhu Bi were in shock. He hadn't even gone into his usual powered-up mode, and yet he already managed to injure a Winged One. That's just... way too strong!
"Go!!" Azriel suddenly shouted.
She vanished in a flash, reappearing right in front of Liku with a black energy sword slashing toward him.
Clang———!
Liku casually raised his right arm, catching the sword with his gauntlet-covered hand. Their powers clashed, causing shockwaves to ripple through the air.
Azriel's expression grew darker. Liku had managed to hurt a normal Winged One with just his physical body. Now, combined with that strange energy inside him that rivaled even her spirit reaction, she was struggling to keep up.
"Boost!"
Just then, a crisp voice rang out from Liku's gem. His energy doubled instantly. With a squeeze, Liku shattered her black energy sword like it was glass.
Then he punched toward her at lightning speed. Azriel's face twisted in surprise as she quickly dodged.
"Sky Lance———!"
Suddenly, three Winged Ones raised a pitch-black spear of energy high into the air and hurled it at Liku with a mighty cry.
The moment the attack was launched, all their energy was drained. The three of them shrank down into child-like forms and started falling from the sky.
But before they hit the ground, they used the last of their strength to teleport back to base. Without any power left, they were now completely useless in combat.
"Third Gate: Life Gate—open."As the Sky Lance came at him, Liku stayed calm, quietly unlocking the third gate.
In that instant, his body was wrapped in blazing blue energy, his power soaring to terrifying heights.
Just from unlocking the third gate and stacking one boost from the gauntlet, Liku's strength had already surpassed his old self when he used to open the seventh gate.
"Day Tiger———!"
With a blur too fast for the Winged Ones to track, Liku swung his fist.
A giant blue tiger, howling with fury, surged forward and ripped the Sky Lance apart into glowing fragments that rained down like stardust—then exploded in a massive blast that shook the earth.
But it didn't stop there.
The Day Tiger kept going, roaring toward the Winged Ones in its path, hell-bent on tearing apart everything in front of it.
Every Winged One's instincts screamed DANGER. No one dared block it head-on—they all scrambled to teleport out of the way.
Well... except for one poor soul who was a second too slow—completely swallowed by the tiger's attack.
"....."