"Drago Knight Hunter Z!"
Li Hua pressed the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat, swapped out his Taddle Beat rhythmic game Gashat, and slotted the new one into his Gamer Driver.
A chibi-style Demon Dragon flew out, transforming into armor that attached itself to Brave.
"Gachan! Level Up! Taddle meguru! Taddle meguru! Taddle Quest~! A Gacha! Do-Do-Drago! Na-Na-Na-Kni~ght! Dra-! Dra-! Drago Knight Hunter! Brave!"
Drago Holy Sword armor covered his elbows, dragon-head fangs shielded his head and chest, and his legs were reinforced with heavy plating.
"My current level is... 5," Li Hua announced, raising his hand.
Graphite's eyes lit up at the sight of the leveled-up Brave. He shifted from his human guise into his full Bugster form, a jagged, fanged greatsword appearing in his grip.
"Then let me be your opponent! I hope you can give me a truly exhilarating battle!"
Li Hua snorted and swung his sword at Graphite. Graphite raised his dragon-fang blade to parry. The two weapons clashed and immediately recoiled.
Graphite let out a hearty laugh. "Not bad! You are a powerful opponent. Take this! Do-Do-Do-Do-Do Crimson Exploding Dragon Sword !"
Massive energy coalesced into a fiery red dragon that charged toward Li Hua. Li Hua raised his Drago Sword, gathered energy, and slashed. The sword energy seemed to possess a natural suppression effect against the dragon; though it didn't look overwhelmingly powerful, it easily dispelled Graphite's ultimate move.
"Does the Hunter Gashat have a restraining effect on me, since I was born from that same game?" Graphite mused.
"Indeed," Genm interjected. "The Gashat used by the Brave and yourself were both born from Drago Knight Hunter Z. The Hunter Gashat represents the power of the Dragonslayer, while you are the convergence of the Demon Dragon's power."
"Given your levels are close, the Hunter Gashat has a considerable elemental advantage over you," Genm continued. "We shall take our leave for now. There will be plenty of games in the future for you to fight to your heart's content."
"I see." Graphite nodded, turning back to Li Hua. "We'll settle this next time."
"I told you, I won't let you leave that easily!" Li Hua pointed his sword at Genm.
Through several encounters, he had come to feel that Genm was a massive threat. From spreading the Zombie virus at the Stark Expo to designing this Drago Knight Hunter trap—both had resulted in mass civilian infections. In Li Hua's eyes, Genm was far more dangerous than the higher-leveled Parado.
"Even with that Gashat, you are only Level 5," Parado remarked, sounding genuinely curious. "I am Level 50, and Snipe and Lazer are effectively out of the fight. What makes you think you can defeat us?"
Li Hua remained silent. He knew he couldn't simultaneously defeat Parado, Genm, Graphite, and the unidentified individual nearby. His target from the start was Genm—the enemy who could create new games to spread viruses at any moment.
"Game Area, Depl—"
Li Hua's voice cut off abruptly. Arcs of energy electricity surged across his armor. He doubled over, seemingly in immense pain.
He had intended to expand a Game Area to trap Genm inside and finish him off with Gwen and Elena's help, betting that Genm was the only one on the Bugster side who could freely traverse game boundaries. If successful, he could eliminate their greatest threat.
However, expanding a Game Area requires channeling the full power of a Gashat. At his current state, Li Hua could not control the power of a Level 5 Gashat.
He lost control.
The dragon wings on his back deployed automatically, carrying Li Hua into the air. He began flying erratically, like a remote-controlled plane that had lost its signal. Brilliant sword light flashed from his arms, scattering energy waves in all directions, while the dragon-head armor seemed to come alive, letting out guttural roars.
"It seems the Brave cannot yet handle the power of the Drago Knight Hunter Gashat."
Genm shrugged, turning to Gwen and Elena. "A word of advice: if no one stops him, you'll have to wait for the Gashat's energy to burn itself out. Who knows what kind of destruction an out-of-control Brave will cause in the meantime? We'll be going now. Farewell."
Waving dismissively at Elena and Gwen, the three Bugsters and Otto Octavius vanished.
"How are we supposed to stop him?" Elena's face was grim as she watched Brave tumble through the sky. She had tried to fly up to stop him, only to be swatted down by a stray sword strike, nearly depleting her already low Rider Gauge.
Brave was Level 5; Snipe and Lazer were only Level 10. They were at an absolute power disadvantage, and their Gauges couldn't sustain a prolonged fight.
"We can only hope that Dan's Ex-Aid can stop him," Elena said helplessly.
"I've already sent a distress signal to Dan. He should be here soon."
Just then, a teleportation circle glowed, and Ex-Aid, transformed by Dan Kuroto, appeared.
"Brave has lost control?"
Seeing him, Elena and Gwen spoke hurriedly. "Li Hua used the Gashat from the clear reward to reach Level 5, but he can't handle the power! His armor is acting on its own and attacking everything. We have to stop him!"
Dan nodded. "I understand. Li Hua isn't adjusted to Level 5 power yet. To protect the user from being directly consumed by the Gashat's overwhelming energy, the Rider System is venting that power autonomously. That's what's causing the berserk state."
"Is there a way to make him stop?" Elena asked urgently. "If he keeps this up, he'll tear the whole street apart."
Dan nodded confidently. "Try to attack him once to draw him down. I can deploy a Game Area to restrict his movement, then use Ex-Aid's special ability to temporarily lower his level. Once the level drops, he should regain control."
Once Brave's level was forcibly lowered, Li Hua finally regained control of his body.
"The damage I caused here..." Li Hua looked at the ruined surroundings, his expression darkening.
Dan waved it off. "Don't take it to heart. We'll leave the cleanup and compensation to Tony Stark."
"Exactly. With the Stark Group's wealth and connections, these little troubles are nothing," Elena agreed, nodding vigorously.
"Let's head back to the base. With this much noise, authorities will be here soon. I need to recalibrate and modify the Drago Knight Hunter Gashat. You all aren't ready to use it individually yet," Dan said, opening a portal and leading the three back to the Hospital underground base.
"I've adjusted the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat. You should be able to use it now," Dan said, placing the Gashat on the table.
"That's it? It looks exactly the same. I hope it doesn't go haywire again," Elena said skeptically.
Dan smiled. "I've set the Gashat to 'Multiplayer Mode.' In other words, when this Gashat is used, the power is shared among the three of you. By splitting the burden, there's no risk of losing control. However, your levels will be set to 4."
"Meaning all three of us have to be present to use it?" Gwen asked.
"It's an emergency measure for now. Once you become more proficient with the Rider System, you'll be able to handle higher-level power individually. Then, you won't have to worry about losing control," Dan explained with a smile.
(End of Chapter)