"This power and speed aren't bad at all." Riku grinned in satisfaction as he looked at the troll he'd just obliterated.
Even though the Skywalk boots had been modified by the system to use stamina instead of special energy, they could still run on various sources of power. The result of using spirit energy just now was obvious—the speed was so fast it was a blur.
The boost in strength from the spirit energy wasn't bad either.
After all, he'd only used about a tenth of his full power.
"Time to try my luck with that Silver Chest." Riku shook his head and recycled the troll's corpse, then walked over to where a Silver Chest was waiting a kilometer away.
"Silver Chests have a much better chance of giving something good than Bronze ones. Don't let me down." Riku placed his hand on the luxurious chest, noticeably fancier than any Bronze Chest.
With a flash, the chest opened, releasing a brilliant orb of light.
[Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained the Reality Marble: Unlimited Blade Works.]
Unlimited Blade Works—from the Fate series, wielded by Emiya Shirou—is a "Reality Marble," a unique magic that lets him, even without Noble Phantasms, fight as a true Heroic Spirit. This Reality Marble contains the blueprint for all swords; if he's seen the original, he can recreate it. Any weapon projected once is registered inside the Reality Marble, and he can summon copies even without fully activating it.
"Unlimited Blade Works, huh? Didn't expect to score something this broken. That's like buying one, getting a hundred for free." Riku's golden eyes lit up, his satisfaction overflowing.
For someone like him, with lots of raw energy but no actual techniques, this was the perfect skill.
He hadn't compared it directly, but his gut told him that if he converted his spirit energy to mana, he'd easily outclass Red Archer. Unlimited Blade Works should have far fewer limitations for him.
"Well, well. I sensed a spike in spirit energy, so I dropped by to take a look… and what do you know, something interesting really did happen." An amused voice interrupted Riku's thoughts, making him tense up.
"Angel—no, Flugel! Jibril!" Riku looked up at the figure in the sky and felt his heart sink.
Her hair flowed down like a waterfall, shimmering with every color of the rainbow. She had delicate, almost ethereal features and flawless skin, an absolute beauty with the kind of body anyone would envy.
But if you noticed the glowing, geometric halo floating near her head and the radiant wings at her back, you'd realize this was no ordinary beauty. For the strong, her appearance was cause for alarm. For the weak, it was pure despair.
She was born to slaughter gods—the ultimate weapon created by the most powerful Exceed. The Flugel, sixth in the Exceed rankings, were angels of death.
And this particular angel was a personal favorite of Riku's in his past life—Jibril, the one-of-a-kind extra individual among the Flugel.
He just hadn't expected their meeting to be like this.
"My, my… I didn't expect to be recognized! Am I that famous already?" Jibril hovered above, interest shining in her eyes, her voice sweet and dangerously playful.
But Riku was in no mood to admire her beauty.
The Flugel were disasters given form, harbingers of death. Worse yet, they collected the heads of other races' leaders as trophies. Jibril, in particular, loved to act solo and challenge the top dogs.
Normally, a Flugel wouldn't even spare a glance at some random bug crawling by. Clearly, Riku's earlier spirit energy surge—testing his new strength—had drawn Jibril's attention.
Bad luck. Major blunder.
That was Riku's honest assessment. He'd never have guessed she'd be lurking nearby.
"But what really piques my curiosity… what are you, exactly? You're not an Elf, not a Werebeast, not a Dhampir… but you look almost like one of those pitiful humans. Except, no human could put out a spirit energy signature like that." Jibril studied Riku like he was a fascinating new toy, her excitement only growing.
"This energy is beyond even the Elves." Suddenly, her gaze grew wild. "Ehehe… Mister, could I borrow your head for a little research? I've never seen a phenomenon quite like you!"
"Can't you just let me go? I actually have somewhere I need to be," Riku said with a helpless sigh.
"Nope! You simply must become part of my collection!" Jibril's words were playful, her smile adorable—yet every syllable was chilling.
As she spoke, a black energy blade appeared in her hand, the spirit energy radiating from it downright terrifying.
"Well, that's how it is then." Riku's expression grew serious. "Projection."
Light gathered in his right hand, and with a flash, a splendid longsword took shape.
"To think you can project a real sword… is this also a kind of magic? I haven't seen anything like it before. You're making me more and more curious," Jibril said, her gaze burning as she stared at the elegant sword in Riku's hand.
Facing Jibril's obsession, Riku frowned slightly. The Unlimited Blade Works he'd acquired was the one from Archer, meaning it included copies of all sorts of Noble Phantasms. He even had a version of Excalibur among them.
But the sword he held now was just a replica—one level below the original. Just a B++ Noble Phantasm. Still, his energy was way beyond Archer's. He might even surpass the King of Knights herself. If Jibril underestimated him, even if he couldn't win, he could still get away with ease.
"Even if I lack real combat skills or swordsmanship, backing down now would be pathetic. At the very least, I need to see where I actually stand," Riku's eyes grew sharp.
The next instant, powered by spirit energy, his Skywalk lit up beneath him. Riku left behind a string of afterimages as he charged at Jibril in midair, sword gleaming with silver light.
Clang!
Jibril, unfazed by the sudden attack, simply lifted her black energy blade and blocked his strike.
The two swords clashed, sending sparks of energy flying everywhere.
"Not bad speed," Jibril commented, eyes glinting. "Almost on par with those Beastmen brutes. But your strength is about average for a Beastman. And your swings are a mess—are you even trained?" She leaned in, voice both curious and amused.
Riku scowled. "That's not your concern!"
He kicked off with Skywalk, breaking the deadlock and flashing to Jibril's side, slashing at her again.
Clang!
This blow, too, was blocked—Jibril summoned a flashing barrier of light that completely stopped Riku's sword.
Jibril then casually swung her own blade, cutting through the air as she aimed for Riku's neck.
Slash!
At the last second, Riku poured everything into Skywalk and barely dodged—still, blood trickled from his face.
'The gap in strength is way too big. I'm not even close.' He retreated, grimacing. He'd expected a difference, but not this much.
"Unknown lifeform, I suggest you use your trump cards now. Otherwise, I'll have trouble ranking your head for my collection," Jibril said, floating above him, voice crazed with excitement. "Right now, you're only LV.3!"
Among the Flugel, collecting the heads of leaders and ranking them was a hobby. Dragons: Level 5. Humans, seen as monkeys by most races, were below zero in their system.
And Jibril, as an extra-special Flugel, loved to fight strong opponents and collect trophies, especially if they were unknowns.
Riku knew all this, which is why he risked challenging her—to test his own power.
Otherwise, if it were a normal Flugel, he'd run for his life—those weapons of mass destruction wouldn't give you any chance, not even with his dimensional jump.
Even with Shambhala, it wasn't safe; the Flugel could use space manipulation too.
"If you want to see it so badly, fine, I'll show you," Riku said, lowering his sword.
Jibril's eyes shone even brighter, visibly thrilled.
Then came the words of power, as Riku's clothes began to flutter and spirit energy surged, cutting them off from the world.
I am the bone of my sword.
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
As the aria finished, both Riku and Jibril felt the world twist.
Jibril's eyes went wide in disbelief.
The scenery had changed completely. All around was endless darkness, save for a single bright moon shining like hope itself.
The ground was a desert of sand dunes—everywhere, countless strange and powerful swords were stabbed into the earth.
"What… is this place?" Jibril said in awe.
"Welcome to my world, Flugel—Jibril," Riku replied, raising his sword coolly.