Starting with No Game No Life: Infinite Chests

"Lord Riku, is there something here? Why can't I see anything?" Kunou looked around in confusion, seeing only a stretch of forest.

"It's normal that you can't see it. Only I can," Riku replied nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Now that I've found what I came for, it's time to save your mother." With that, Riku stored the faintly white tiger-imbued Divine Beast Fragment into his system storage.

"Thank you so much, Lord Riku!" Kunou said joyfully.

"Now, how should I flush those rats out…?" Riku patted Kunou's head, muttering to himself. "Forget it, let's just use the simplest, most direct method." A second later, Riku's lips curled into a smile. Under the curious gazes of Kunou and the tengu, he snapped his fingers.

In an instant, a pale golden detection spell spread out from Riku's location, enveloping all of Kyoto.

"Found them. As expected, they're at the Dragon Vein node." Riku smiled.

"Kunou, let's go," he said lightly.

As he spoke, he soared into the sky.

"Tengu, I'll leave the house to you," Kunou instructed before following after Riku.

At an abandoned factory district in Kyoto, a group of people stood around a magic circle.

At the centre of the circle was a giant golden-furred nine-tailed fox, Kyoto's youkai commander, Yasaka. At that moment, Yasaka was covered in restriction spells, sealed tightly, and sound asleep.

"Cao Cao, we've been discovered," said Georg, wielder of the Longinus Dimension Lost.

"I noticed as well," Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and muttered. "The other party isn't even bothering to hide their approach, probably because they're sure they've got us cornered."

"Guess those youkai found themselves a really powerful helper," Siegfried sneered.

"Ignore them and keep going with the ritual," Cao Cao commanded. "As long as it's not that handful of gods, there's nothing to worry about."

As soon as he finished, a calm voice echoed through the air, making everyone tense up.

"As expected, it's you lot from Khaos Brigade's Hero Faction."

They looked up to see a silver-haired young man holding a golden-haired loli in his arms, floating above them.

"The God of Heaven—Riku!" Cao Cao's face darkened as he recognised him.

"Why is the God of Heaven here?"

"What are you kidding me?" In an instant, all the Hero Faction members looked grim. If there was anyone in this world to be truly afraid of right now, it was the God of Heaven, a mere human who had managed to rule over the angels, devils, and fallen angels alike.

Among them, Cao Cao was the most conflicted. His goal was always the ultimate limits of humanity. Yet Riku had long since surpassed that, making all of Cao Cao's efforts seem almost laughable by comparison.

"Even a god like you is willing to be used by youkai?" After a brief moment to collect himself, Cao Cao gripped his True Longinus tightly, his voice low.

He didn't know Riku's full power, but anyone who could unite the angels, devils, and fallen angels, and easily take care of both Vali and Sun Wukong's descendant, had to be fearsome, quite possibly even stronger than the Biblical God himself.

Honestly, with only the True Longinus, Cao Cao didn't feel confident. Even if the spear housed the will of the Biblical God, would that really be enough to fight someone who might be stronger than God himself? He doubted it.

But Cao Cao wasn't entirely without hope. With Georg's Dimension Lost and Leonardo's Annihilation Maker, that was three Longinus users together, plus other strong allies. If nothing else, they should be able to escape.

Still, if things could be resolved without fighting, all the better.

"Used? This is just a simple deal. And besides, I find your little Khaos Brigade rather annoying. I suppose I'll just wipe you out while I'm at it," Riku said indifferently.

"'While you're at it…'" Cao Cao frowned, anger welling up. The other members all looked uncomfortable, feeling thoroughly disrespected, as if they weren't even considered worthy opponents.

"Lord Riku, my mother is all right, isn't she?" Kunou finally snapped out of her daze, staring at her mother with anxiety, joy, and anger in her golden eyes.

"For now, yes. But if this drags on, who knows? Being bound by so many spells must be agony," Riku replied calmly.

"Georg!" As Riku spoke to Kunou, Cao Cao suddenly shouted.

Georg instantly understood, and a thick, powerful mist erupted around them.

At the same time, the others launched attacks toward Riku in the air. Cao Cao unleashed a variant Balance Breaker shockwave, clearly deciding to make a break for it rather than fight. Even Yasaka was abandoned in their retreat.

"So greedy. But if I let you all get away now, I'd be breaking my word. Which means… You all need to die here." Riku shook his head.

A golden magic formation slammed down from the sky. All attacks were nullified, and the dense mist was instantly dispelled, leaving Cao Cao and his group exposed and dumbfounded.

They'd thought that with Dimension Lost, escape was guaranteed, only to have it completely fail.

"What did you do? Why isn't my Dimension Lost working?" Georg exclaimed in shock.

"The Biblical God created Sacred Gears. You really think he wouldn't leave some failsafes in such dangerous weapons?" Riku looked down at Georg, voice icy.

"—!" Georg paled instantly.

Even the ever-calm Cao Cao felt the pressure mounting in his heart.

"Enough talk. I'm busy, so let's wrap this up," Riku said with casual finality.

With that, he slapped his palm down.

The air compressed, generating terrifying pressure, and crimson destruction energy swirled forth, forming a massive red palm that covered the sky, as if to crush everything beneath it.

Facing Riku's casual attack, Cao Cao and the others could only feel death itself descending upon them.

In desperation, Cao Cao unleashed his strongest move, making one last bid to resist.

"Balance Breaker!" Without hesitation, Cao Cao tried to unleash the ultimate power of the True Longinus.

However, the True Longinus only flickered faintly, then returned to its original state, throwing Cao Cao off instead!

"Haha… even the will of God has abandoned me?" Seeing this, Cao Cao let out a bitter laugh.

"No… you're just afraid of his power too, aren't you?" Cao Cao then noticed the spear trembling with obvious fear. Although the will residing in the spear lacked sentience, it still retained a bit of instinct.

Even the last remnants of the Biblical God's will instinctively feared him… Who else in this world could make that happen?

"Looks like this time, I really am doomed…" With a final, wry smile, Cao Cao was utterly erased by the descending crimson palm.

Not just Cao Cao, the other members of the Hero Faction were also instantly obliterated by Riku.

As for Yasaka, before the attack landed, Riku protected her. She was, after all, the rescue target; he couldn't let anything happen to her.

"True Longinus, Dimension Lost, Annihilation Maker… Three Longinus in one haul, not a bad set of spoils." Riku immediately collected the three Sacred Gears, which had tried to escape, and tossed them into his system storage, nodding with satisfaction.

——

At that moment, Kunou, still held in Riku's arms, stared at him in a daze.

She'd known Riku was powerful, but only by reputation. Now that she'd seen it for herself, she realised he was far, far beyond her imagination, inhumanly strong.

"Lord Riku, you were so cool just now!" Kunou's golden eyes sparkled with adoration as she exclaimed excitedly.

Seeing her mother's kidnappers smashed in a single blow was the most satisfying thing imaginable. The casual, effortless way Riku handled everything made a deep impression on the young Kunou.

"It was nothing, really," Riku replied with a small smile, gently setting Kunou down on the ground.

Kunou, however, pouted in displeasure, glancing reluctantly at Riku. She wanted to be held for longer.

"Lord Riku, these spells look really complicated… How are we going to wake up my mother?" Kunou asked anxiously, looking at Yasaka, still unconscious at the centre of the magic circle.

These intricate spell arrays, if disturbed recklessly, could easily cause problems. With Riku here, she herself wasn't worried, but she wasn't sure about her mother's safety.

"These little spells are nothing," Riku said offhandedly, placing his hand on Yasaka.

Golden light shone from his palm as he instantly analysed the complex formations. It had to be said the Biblical God might not have been the strongest in battle, but when it came to magical knowledge, there was no one in this world who could compare.

Crack—!

Under Kunou's delighted gaze, all the bindings on Yasaka dissolved into fragments of spiritual energy, scattering into the air.

A few seconds later, Yasaka's massive fox body trembled, and she slowly regained consciousness. Her golden fox eyes, dazed at first, settled on Riku and Kunou as her mind cleared.

"Kunou, what…?" Yasaka hesitated. Her memories stopped at being captured by the Hero Faction and restrained by Dimension Lost.

"Mother, you were kidnapped by the Hero Faction. They wanted to sacrifice you to summon the Great Red! Luckily, Lord Riku saved you!" Kunou explained tearfully, throwing herself into Yasaka's arms.

"Lord Riku…?" Yasaka was stunned for a moment before realising who he was. She instantly transformed into her human form, a beautiful, kimono-clad, golden-haired woman and respectfully bowed to Riku.

"Lord Riku, thank you for saving me." Yasaka was overcome with emotion and gratitude, her voice sincere. She had never expected someone like Riku to come to her rescue.

"I didn't save you for free," Riku said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Haha, as expected." This actually relieved Yasaka. If Riku had helped her for nothing, it would have felt even more unbelievable. "If it's within my power, I will do anything for you, Lord Riku."

"Don't worry, it's nothing too troublesome. Just lead the youkai of Kyoto to join the Adia Alliance," Riku said offhandedly.

The Adia Alliance was the name Riku gave to the organisation he established after conquering the Three Factions, borrowing the same name he once used in Disboard after uniting all races.

"Adia Alliance…" Yasaka was surprised, but quickly nodded. "Understood."

"And, Kunou has a Divine Beast Fragment inside her. She's got a lot of potential. If you just leave it dormant, you're wasting her talent." Riku patted Kunou's head, making her eyes narrow in comfort.

"…Ah, you could tell, Lord Riku?" Yasaka smiled wryly. "Honestly, I have no experience with this sort of thing."

"From now on, Kunou will follow me. I'll make sure she's properly trained," Riku said lightly. His tone was calm, yet brooked no refusal.

"Mother, I want to stay with Lord Riku!" Before Yasaka could respond, Kunou cheerfully clung to Riku's arm, pleading with her mother.

"Thank you for your concern, Lord Riku. Kunou is still young and mischievous. I hope you won't mind." Yasaka had no intention of refusing. In fact, she was happy to see it. Having Kunou follow someone as legendary as Riku was an incredible opportunity. When she returned, she'd surely be fit to inherit the title of Youkai Commander. Yasaka was no fool; she wouldn't let this chance slip by. Most people could only dream of following someone like Riku.

Afterwards, Yasaka warmly hosted Riku back at Fushimi Inari, calling together all the great youkai to celebrate his arrival and officially announcing that the youkai of Kyoto would join Riku.

Firstly, because of Riku's identity. Secondly, because he'd saved Yasaka. Thirdly, because now they were under his protection. The entire youkai assembly showed him the utmost respect; no one dared complain.

After all, he'd casually destroyed three Longinus wielders and their powerful companions. If he could kill them so easily, what chance did they have?

After the night's banquet, Riku brought Kunou back to his home in Kuoh Town.

"Hehe, Riku-sensei, mind explaining yourself? You disappear for a whole day and suddenly bring back such a cute girl?" Rias was the first to pounce, smiling as she spoke.

Yet no matter how she smiled, it looked dangerous, especially with destruction magic swirling around her.

The other girls also glared at Riku, clearly ready for a jealous showdown.