"Whoosh—!"
Faced with Freed's shocking speed, Sai Akuto could only rely on his innate combat instincts to barely respond.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Fortunately, the Red Dragon Emperor's boost was overwhelmingly violent. With his power doubled to the peak of a Low-Class Devil, Akuto—despite lacking combat experience—still managed to block Freed's strikes.
The holy-infused light sword was firmly caught by the gauntlet of the Boosted Gear. Freed was shocked to find that this boy, who had only just awakened his devil power, already possessed strength that faintly surpassed his own!
[Boost!]
While locked in a contest of strength with Freed, the gauntlet of the Red Dragon Emperor flashed again with emerald light—Akuto's power doubled once more.
Realizing this, Freed decisively abandoned his light sword and pulled back with his light gun, leaping to retreat.
But the moment Freed sprang backward—Akuto snatched up Freed's discarded light sword!
[Transfer (Gift of the Red Dragon Emperor)!]
"Shhh—!"
Under the effect of the [Gift], the light sword in Akuto's hands extended several times its length!
No, not just its size—the holy energy density and sharpness had also been multiplied several times over!
The enhanced blade slid cleanly through Freed's torso along the midline, like a hot knife cutting through butter.
"Wha—?!"
Before he could finish his words, Freed's body—split vertically in half—collapsed to the ground, leaving behind only two twitching chunks of flesh.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, mission completed—First Blood]
[Mission Requirement: Kill the white-haired priest Freed.]
[Mission Rank: Green]
[Ding!]
[Reward Obtained: True Water Breathing (Green).]
[True Water Breathing: A breathing style specially modified for high-magic worlds. Normal breathing styles manipulate oxygen to enhance muscles and physique. This modified version draws in the natural energy of the world, awakening the essence of one's bloodline to strengthen skills and amplify their power.
The general forms remain the same as original Water Breathing, but a skilled user can research and develop countless new forms.
Note: If the user has a natural affinity for water, the power of True Water Breathing will be greatly magnified.]
"Water Breathing, huh? Seems like a perfect fit for my Leviathan bloodline."
"Goodbye, Freed."
After stacking a few more boosts, Akuto unleashed a magic blast that completely obliterated Freed's corpse.
...
The Next Day.
Akuto woke up early.
The first thing he did was eagerly summon his Sacred Gear.
"Boosted Gear!"
[Boost!]
Answering his call, the crimson-gold gauntlet materialized instantly, flooding the room with the emerald glow of the Red Dragon Emperor.
The reason Akuto summoned it wasn't just to confirm yesterday wasn't a dream—more importantly, he was going to train.
He knew well enough that having the system and the Boosted Gear didn't mean he was safe.
Even with a one-time "Invincible Dragon" safeguard, this world still had far too many beings capable of killing him.
And that safeguard could only be used once—no telling when it might be triggered.
In these early stages, until he reached the level of a Maou, he had no luxury to relax.
In fact, he'd fallen asleep early the night before only because he had overtrained his magic.
Without a proper training method, all he could do was pour his energy into "excessive magic use" and experiment with the simplest offensive and defensive techniques.
From six in the morning until half past eight, Akuto had been training his magic and his Sacred Gear nonstop.
Two and a half hours later, he was completely exhausted.
Seeing the growth in his magic reserves, Akuto exhaled a long breath.
"As expected of pure-blood devil lineage. Even just a little training yields significant results."
"Of course, my rapid improvement is mostly because I'm still weak."
"The weaker one is, the stronger the bloodline's effect on growth. But if my bloodline rank stays green, I won't keep this pace later on."
He wasn't arrogant enough to think one breakthrough made him strong. He knew too well—this was a world where everyone had cheats, and dangers lurked everywhere.
"Ahhh… damn it. Just thinking about facing the ExE world's evil gods thirty years from now makes me want to keel over."
The thought of an ExE god—whose mere avatar could solo the Red Dragon God Emperor—hanging above his head left Akuto mentally drained.
Just then, the system's chime rang again.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, you have triggered a Villain Event—Desire for Healing.]
[Mission Rank: Blue → Rainbow]
[Mission Description: Knowing too much from the start is useful, but it also brings enormous pressure. Under such strain, it's essential to find relief.
When resting on the lap of a beautiful girl, a man can experience profound healing.
And as everyone knows, the Gremory family is famous in the Underworld for being "full of love." If the Host can rest his head on the laps of Gremory women, he will surely find great comfort.]
[Mission Requirement: Receive lap pillows from three members of the Gremory family.]
[Note: Each lap pillow grants one lottery chance.
The higher the Host's healing and satisfaction while resting, the higher the grade of the reward.]
Staring at the system's new mission, Akuto pressed a hand to his arm that was still twitching from overtraining.
"As expected of a Villain Protagonist System—nothing but indecent missions."
"But… a lap pillow, huh…"
"Rias' thighs are top-tier. I really do want to bury my head in them."
"If I slammed my head hard into Rias' lap, it'd probably set off waves of soft flesh."
"Besides Rias, Venelana and the original Gremory's laps should feel amazing too… After all, a lap pillow is all about thigh feel, and girls in DxD are built perfectly for it."
"Ahh… this system really is too wicked, giving me perverted missions like this."
Still, even as he complained, the mission had stirred a very real craving in him.
Men could be independent and strong.
But even the strongest man needed the comfort of a woman's lap.
(End of Chapter)
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