Galaxy's First Ruler

Boom!

Bang!!

Badooom!!!

Thunderous sound of fleshy explosions rang out hidden under the layer of 100-meter tall trees.

Meuric used the trunk of the tree and jumped up to a thorny bough. Just as his feet touched the slim branch, a black figure lunged at him from another tree. It almost looked like a baboon, but it had four hands and two long legs. Its fur was gray and on its back was a red patch.

But despite its dark red eyes, the weirdest thing about this baboon was the protruded skin over that red patch. It was as if there was a tiny volcano on the Baboon's back. And fiery, bubbling heat was coming out of the tiny opening at the top of that protruded skin.

This was a Common Ranked Fire-Back Baboon.

As the Baboon was about to contact Meuric, the red patch on its back gave a brilliant flash. The protruded skin became red hot, and in the next moment, its four fists ballooned up. It looked like they were four red fiery balls of irons, and all were aimed at Meuric's head.

But just as it seemed there was no avoiding those raging fists, Meuric's punch, wrapped in lightning, appeared in front of the beast's face. There was no trajectory to this punch and no hint of its presence. Even Meuric's posture didn't seem appropriate to let out this punch, especially considering his towering figure. But this punch had indeed appeared as if it was a snake who was hiding, waiting for its prey.

Thunder Boa Second Fist – THUNDER FORMLESS STRIKE!!!

BOOM!!!

The Fire-Back Baboon's head exploded, and before its lifeless body could reach the ground, Meuric had already vanished.

Thump!

The body struck the ground with a loud thump, and the slope on the ground made it roll down a few feet away from the point of contact. But it couldn't go far as there was a heap of similar headless baboons placed over one other. At one glance, one could tell that their number must have easily reached dozens.

And behind this bloody heap of bodies stood Aldrich, watching this entire scene with his almost dead eyes.

Since the moment he had figured out what Queen Eluned wanted by sending him here, Aldrich had been forming a preliminary plan. The biggest thing he was worried about was him not knowing what he needed to do. Now that he had, Aldrich could let himself loose without holding back. For what the Queen wanted was equally mind-boggling and humongous.

'… She wants me to save Boudicca, but she also wants to portray me as a completely independent party. None can know that I will be taking Boudicca's side, and whatever I do must be big enough to catch the Royal Ancestors' eyes.'

Aldrich made it sound simple, but this was a task none could think of doing even if one was given a hundred lifetimes.

First, he would have to start from the very bottom and climb his way up to the ranks of distinguished N.I.K.E. Dreamers. Otherwise, even if he would have a method, his voice won't have the power to catch the required attention.

Second, he would have to find a way to save Boudicca. A way which none could reject or discard. A method that could make all claims and accusations against Boudicca invalid, even if they were true.

All that within two months, and without Queen Eluned's direct help. It was true that if the Queen were to help him, he could bypass all these cumbersome tasks and work on the second thing from the get-go. But then his existence couldn't be hidden from others, either.

What would the people, who were against the Queen's faction, do if they were to find out that a Dreamer was trying to help Boudicca?

What would they do if that Dreamer was trying to reinstate the Queen's faith in the common people?

And what would they do if that Dreamer was indirectly against the wishes of two, or possibly three, Kings?

Aldrich's grip on the cane tightened as he thought of the consequences if the Queen had pulled him directly to her location. He almost feared nothing, but even he knew he wasn't invincible. And unlike before, Aldrich had found out there were many things that could make his plans go awry if he was not careful enough.

'… It's good. Without getting Sha back, I can't afford to get myself captured by another Duke or King.'

There was no way around it. Aldrich knew he must do these things. He must be prudent enough to reach the unreachable heights and yet not get questioned about his ultimate intentions. Otherwise, what the Queen would do to him, Aldrich didn't want to even think of.

'… Anyway, I have already given Boudicca my words, and she has also paid in advance. This excuse is good enough for now.'

Even though Aldrich didn't want to let himself get involved in anything unrelated to his search of Sha, he had to finish this mission first. But buried in his heart, there was one more reason for him to just not take out Swordfish and run away.

Aldrich knew IT was the King himself who had somehow snatched Sha away from him. IT was the King who had somehow masked Sha's presence for her voice to not reach in his mind. And the only Being who could help him related to this must also be a King.

Aldrich didn't want to have it, but in his heart there was Hope. It hadn't just come out of the blue; it had been bubbling up in the depths of his heart since the time he was hovering in the Shadow World.

Hope gave Aldrich enough excuse as a thread for him to cling on. Hope made Aldrich think that once he would save Boudicca, the Queen might just help him out. And it was also Hope that made him not just threaten the Queen herself.

There was a chance the Queen just might succumb to his threat, given the love she had for her niece, but this Hope didn't let him do it.

Thump!!!

Another headless body rolled down and stopped a few inches away from his feet. A gust of wind hit Aldrich's face as Meuric appeared beside the pile of bodies. He was out of breath, and here and there were marks of scorched skin. But they were not fatal, and not painful enough to wipe the big smile off his face.

The corners of Meuric's lips reached to his ears as he showed a Common Ranked FIR to Aldrich.

-"How many?"-

"Haha! Master, 50. 50 Poison attributed Common Mana Cores. Tch! And I thought even Shu is weak like you. Ahem! I mean, he is just a Common Ranked Magical Beast. Once he drinks the potion which I will make for him, he will become stronger than even these baboons. Then he won't have to hide any longer. I will also…"

Meuric kept blabbering as Aldrich looked at Shu, who was sprawled over a low branch and was gazing directly at them. It was Aldrich who had made Shu not intrude in the fight. Otherwise, given Shu's nature, he would have already annihilated all the Baboons in a single glance.

Aldrich wanted to figure out Meuric's fighting style in depth. And thus, for the last few hours, he was making him fight packs after packs of beasts in the guise of collecting Mana Cores.

By now, they had collected 140 Common Mana Cores, regardless of their attributes, in 3 hours. But Aldrich knew this wasn't nearly enough. Now that his observation had been completed, Aldrich could take a further step in his plan of making these Low Ranked Dreamers cry tears of blood.

Meuric didn't notice the hint of an evil smile on Aldrich's smile. He put the FIR on his left hand's ring finger. There were three more such FIRs on his fingers. A sheepish smile came over Meuric's face as he looked at those FIRs and he spoke out.

"Master, even if I can carry you on my shoulder for days... No, for weeks… Mmm… No, I can carry you for one and a half months before dying. I have made a potion which can digest grass…"

-"Point?"-

"Huh?! Oh, yes. Even if I can carry you, we will not make it to the checkpoint. We have already lost a day's worth of time doing nothing but standing, sleeping, and eating."

Aldrich was amused, seeing that whenever it came to these things, Meuric's reasoning abilities returned like a lost traveler. But Aldrich said nothing in reply.

Suddenly Shu sat up and glared at the moonless sky over them. Through the trees, not much could be seen, but it was enough for an abomination like Shu to sense what was coming. Meuric, on the other hand, sensed nothing until a cry reached his ears.

Screeechhh!

Rustleeee!!!

Before Meuric could even look up, a loud rustling of leaves echoed around them. Branches broke and rained down, and heavy gusts of wind sent the headless bodies flying.

Aldrich saw Meuric stumbling back as a 15 ft long vulture-type beast landed behind Aldrich's back. There was no color on its body, other than black, but the skin over its head was transparent. One could see its brain through that transparent skin giving out bright white-green flashes.

-"This ride will do"-

As Aldrich's sarcastic words rang out, Meuric let out a shout of disbelief.

"This… This is impossible… A Rare Light Devouring Vulture?!!!"