As a mother, Valerie understood her son quite well. Seeing his flustered, reddened face and noticing Raize picking up the bag of daily necessities, she realized Vali was just embarrassed in front of a stranger.
"Sorry to make you laugh, Yotsuki-kun. This is my son, Vali."
She smiled as she released her son and introduced him, then introduced Raize to Vali as well.
"This is Yotsuki Raize-kun. He's the kind young man who carried me home..."
Hearing his mother's explanation, Vali regained his composure. He took a deep breath, looked seriously at Raize, and solemnly thanked him.
"Thank you for helping my mother. I truly appreciate it."
"No need to be so polite. Since your son is back, I won't disturb your reunion. I'll take my leave."
Raize smiled faintly and nodded. Now that her son had returned, there was no reason for him to stay. Today's encounter had really been quite something.
First running into the Red Dragon Emperor, and not long after, the White Dragon Emperor—and the woman he casually helped turned out to be his mother.
"Thank you so much today, Yotsuki-kun. Vali, go see our guest out."
Valerie noticed the things in Raize's hands and knew he still had his own matters to attend to. She did not try to keep him, thanked him again, and gestured for her son to escort him.
After helping his mother sit down, Vali followed Raize outside. He happened to have a few things he wanted to ask.
"You don't have anything you want to ask?"
At the doorway, Vali suddenly spoke to Raize's back.
The other party had immediately recognized him as a devil when he released his demonic power, so clearly he knew about devils. And since he had helped his mother, he probably wasn't a bad person.
His mother was human, while he was a half-human, half-devil descendant of Lucifer. Asking this was simply a way to test Raize's attitude.
Raize did not stop walking as he answered calmly.
"I'm not interested in prying into your family matters. It's obvious you care deeply about your mother. That tells me you're not the type who despises humans or takes arrogant pride in your devil blood."
Did Vali truly like his devil blood? Probably not.
He had complicated feelings about being a descendant of Lucifer. Pride or arrogance in his bloodline had never been part of him.
His childhood had been miserable. As the child of the original Satan Lucifer's grandson and a human woman, he had been born hosting the Sacred Gea [White Dragon Emperor's Light Wings].
Sacred Gears could only choose humans—either someone originally human who reincarnated as a devil, or a half-human hybrid.
For hybrids, the chance of being chosen was only fifty percent. After all, half of them was no longer human.
Such cases were not unheard of, but the Sacred Gears obtained by hybrids were never top-tier, and their achievements were limited.
Vali was different.
He was a descendant of the original Satan Lucifer, and the Sacred Gear he obtained was top-tier. The probability of such an occurrence was nothing short of miraculous.
His grandfather, Rizevim Livan Lucifer, found it amusing and demanded that his son help torment his grandson.
Vali's father, fearful that his son's talent surpassed his own, frequently abused him.
Whenever Vali tried to protect his mother, he would be beaten. She could only secretly cook pasta to comfort him.
Growing up in such an environment, how could Vali feel pride in his Lucifer bloodline?
"Heh…"
After hearing Raize's words, Vali fell silent for a moment, then smiled faintly. Watching Raize walk away, he used demonic transmission to speak.
"Yotsuki Raize, was it? We'll meet again."
Raize didn't even turn his head, merely raising a hand and casually waving it, as if to say he didn't mind.
Once Vali, the battle maniac, set his sights on someone, he wouldn't stop until they fought. Though Raize was human, what he had shown was more than enough to warrant serious attention.
And beyond wanting to fight him, Vali had other thoughts.
Vali was convinced Raize was an unobserved Sacred Gear Slayer wielder. Raize's words reminded him of someone he utterly despised—his grandfather, Lizevim.
He wanted nothing more than to tear that man apart, but that transcendent being possessed the ability of "Sacred Gear Canceller." Without the White Dragon Emperor's Light Wings, Vali stood no chance.
Thus, he needed powerful allies. Recently, he had also been in contact with members of the Khaos Brigade.
"Albion, do you think that guy's holy power could work on that bastard?" Vali stared into the empty darkness ahead, cold light filling his eyes.
The White Dragon within him understood Vali well, having watched him grow up. He naturally knew who Vali meant.
Vali wasn't just interested in fighting Raize—he had also taken interest in that special power that targeted devils and demonic beings.
[If that human grows to the same level, he would absolutely have a restraining effect. I said it before—that is not ordinary holy power. It reminded me of the God of Bible who once sealed me and turned me into a Sacred Gear!]
Hearing such high praise from Albion, Vali smiled.
Even the long-dead Biblical God had been brought up—this alone showed just how terrifying the essence of Raize's power was.
If his foster father Azazel learned about an unobserved Sacred Gear wielder like this, he would be ecstatic. After all, Azazel's greatest hobby was researching and collecting Sacred Gears.
And Vali certainly wouldn't let such a powerful existence slip away. If he could make Raize an ally, he would be the perfect trump card against that bastard!
---
When Raize returned home, it was already past eight in the evening. Sei, Eu, and Haruna had already eaten dinner. Haruna—whose cooking skills were second only to Raize's—had prepared the meal, leaving some for him covered in plastic wrap.
Chirp chirp"
As Raize entered the house, he suddenly saw a large group of round, plump creatures. One of them even wore a commander's cap, its body covered in golden-yellow feathers.
The lead Manjuu flapped its tiny wings, flew straight at Raize, and happily chirped as it rubbed against his face.
Manjuu.
These were the mysterious creatures hatched from basketball-sized eggs he had obtained while playing Azur Lane. They looked like cute chibi yellow chicks.
Don't be fooled by their size and appearance—their abilities rivaled minions. Cooking, cleaning, construction, research assistance—they could do almost anything.
Even in Azur Lane battle scenes, suicide boats were sometimes operated by Manjuu.
Loyal, powerful, and reliable—Raize genuinely liked these little guys.
He peeled the Manjuu off his face, placed it on his shoulder, and gave it a gentle pat.
But once he reached the living room, the sight before him made him want to throw the Manjuu into a frying pan.
Eu was sitting on the sofa watching TV, hugging a Manjuu with a blissful expression. Her white-stockinged feet—rested on two other Manjuu, gently rubbing their fluffy bellies.
Sei was even worse. Lying on the sofa playing games, she used a Manjuu as a pillow, with an open snack bag beside her and another Manjuu feeding her snacks.
She looked completely satisfied.
(Welcome home.)
Seeing the twitch in Raize's expression, Eu simply wrote the words in her notebook.
"You're something else. All my Manjuu have turned into your servants."
Raize narrowed his eyes at the Manjuu under Eu's white-stockinged feet. Upon seeing their master return, the bliss on its face vanished. It scrambled free, stood straight, chirped loudly, and saluted.
"These little yellow chicks aren't edible anyway. They're basically robots—why can't they serve people?"
Sei spoke lazily while gaming. The Manjuu under her head clearly adored her.
She patted it, opened her mouth slightly, accepted a snack, and continued.
"And they're all volunteering, you know~"
Well then. The Manjuu had apparently mistaken Sei and Eu for ship girls. If they were willing, Raize couldn't really say anything.
Still, seeing them enjoy being stepped on by Eu's white-stockinged feet made him want to deep-fry them.
Perverted Manjuu. Hmph.
"Where did Haruna run off to? She didn't go out, did she?"
(No. A group of Manjuu seems to be tinkering with something with Haruna in a pocket dimension.)
Raize nodded. As long as she wasn't running around, it was fine.
After putting away his things and quickly finishing dinner, Raize returned to his room and locked the door.
The next morning arrived. Raize was not in his room, but wandering through his brand-new small world.
Before him stretched a green plain beneath a pale blue sky. To the left was a dense forest; to the right, a vast, endless ocean.
Raize sat on the beach. The environment was strange—clouds in the sky were unnaturally square, with sharp edges.
Even the sun radiating heat above was a perfect square.
Square sun. Square sky. Square land.
Everything except Raize himself was blocky.
This was the reward he received after clearing Minecraft the night before—a small world made entirely of blocks.
Everything before Raize's eyes looked as if the resolution were too low—everything he could see had turned into blocks. After staying for a short while, Raize got used to it.
This blocky world still had certain differences compared to the game. For example, there were no villages or villagers, no witches or creepers, and the like.
After all, it was only an incomplete small world. However, there were quite a lot of animals without much intelligence. Raize had previously caught a few rabbits, roasted them, and eaten them. The taste was average.
There were also some usable minerals underground or in the mountains. What Raize cared about more were these usable resources.
Chirp chirp!
While Raize was sitting cross-legged on the beach, sunbathing and training, a little Manjuu flapped its tiny wings and flew over from the other side, landing on Raize's shoulder. It chirped nonstop, as if telling him something.
"Already sorted out? Your efficiency is really high."
After hearing what the Manjuu reported, Raize smiled and stood up. He patted the Manjuu's head, hugged it into his arms, then took out a basketball-sized BB popcorn from his backpack space and handed it to the Manjuu.
The Manjuu happily ate the BB popcorn in his arms, while Raize held it and walked in a certain direction.
After crossing a short stretch of blocky water, what entered Raize's view was a small island completely out of place with its surroundings. Why out of place? Because this island was not made of blocks.
The island was full of normal greenery, and several extremely sturdy artificial buildings stood there. Raize even saw a few Manjuu sitting in rubber boats, fishing.
This island was Raize's naval base. Yesterday, after normally playing Azur Lane and using up all his oil, he obtained a naval base the size of an island.
Originally, everything here was quite rudimentary, belonging to a beginner-level base environment. Thanks to his Manjuu, it had now been built up quite nicely.
"Now we're just missing a construction dock…"
After landing on the naval base, a cube-shaped golden crystal suddenly appeared in Raize's hand.
He lowered his head and gazed gently at this golden Wisdom Cube that emitted special energy fluctuations. Unlike ordinary blue Wisdom Cubes, this golden one already housed a mature, max-level shipgirl within it.
After Raize finished remodeling his starter shipgirl Laffey, raised her affection to the maximum, and completed the oath, he cleared a certain daily mission and manifested this golden Wisdom Cube.
Within his gentle gaze, a small girl with long white hair and a cute bunny-ear headpiece was quietly sleeping in the core of the Wisdom Cube. Raize could clearly feel that once he took this golden cube out of his backpack space, a special connection formed between him and it.
Raize took out some soul essences from his backpack space and let them merge into the Wisdom Cube in his hand, stopping only after it reached saturation.
"Wait a little longer, Laffey. The day we truly meet won't be far off."
The golden Wisdom Cube floating above Raize's palm seemed to sense his emotions. It gently fluctuated with its unique energy, and through that faint connection, Raize actually felt emotions of "anticipation" and "joy."
Raize smiled slightly, lightly tapped the golden Wisdom Cube with his finger, then put it away.