The old geezer in flower-print shorts snorted through his nose. Ryosuke just thought he’d sneezed.

“Hmph, as the saying goes, once a teacher, a lifetime as a father! I’m already giving you face by not making you call me dear old dad. Don’t you da—puwah!”

Before he could finish, Ryosuke’s leg whipped up and nailed the white‑bearded codger right on the chin. Faint blue light flickered around his toes.

“Damn it! I haven’t even made you call me grandpa yet!”

That kick was anything but normal. The old man’s mountain‑like body actually lost balance and dropped straight back—yet the next second his spine froze at a perfect forty‑five‑degree angle.

Ryosuke stared, jaw hanging. “Old man! You sure you’re not a street dancer?”

This was basically Michael back from the dead. Add some music and lights and it’d be perfect.

“Street… dance?”

Still stuck at that forty‑five‑degree lean, the old man suddenly pitched forward. His bald head shot out like a rocket.

With his roar, that rocket headbutt whistled straight at Ryosuke.

“What the hell!!!”

There probably wasn’t a human alive who could take that kind of brute‑force hit.

Ryosuke’s mouth clamped shut. He slowly tilted his head up, his stiff movements even making a series of clacking sounds.

The old man’s rocket headbutt buried itself perfectly into the trunk of the towering tree Ryosuke had been leaning on.

Ryosuke couldn’t help muttering, “People always say ‘all brawn, no brains.’ Guess I finally got a live demo today.”

“Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!!!”

The old man’s four limbs wrapped around the trunk like an octopus. His whole body twisted like a snake, making the tree let out a weird groaning sound.

As for Ryosuke, he scooped up the still‑sleeping Alpha and decisively chose to keep his distance.

Sorry, old man. Just spend the night inside that tree, wondering what ‘street dance’ is.

“No way I’m staying in this forest. I’ve just about done all the ‘Qi Gathering’ I can here anyway. Time to head for the city.”

Ryosuke mumbled to himself, not sure who he was talking to. He shifted Alpha from his arms onto his back and walked off, leaving one clear footprint after another.

Up in the starry sky, a massive blue ice dragon seemed to flicker in and out of existence above him.

“Mm‑hmm…”

Ryosuke used every ounce of strength to let out a yawn that lasted a full ten seconds. Eyes half‑closed, he headed south.

As for the white‑bearded old man, he tried every bit of strength he had, but still couldn’t pull his bald head out. He kept struggling.

With brute force like his, getting free shouldn’t have been hard. But the tree trunk had caught him at just the right angle, right behind the neck—stuck in a spot where he could neither move forward nor back. It was pure torture.

“Hey, kid? Kid! Give me a hand! Help me out here! I figured out what street dance is! Hurry up and pull me out, you freakishly strong brat! You hear me or not?!”

His muffled shouts boomed out from inside the trunk like distant thunder.

As fate would have it, not long after Ryosuke left, countless griffins swept into the sky over the Forest of Beginning. Each griffin carried either a young man or a young woman.

Every guy was handsome, every girl was stunning. Judging from looks alone, none of them seemed over eighteen—except for one. The purple‑haired pretty boy looked a bit over twenty. From the way everyone orbited around him, he was clearly the leader.

“President, the Apsen Giant should be right below us.”

A male student asked the purple‑haired youth in a low, respectful voice, not daring to meet his eyes directly.

“Yeah.” The purple‑haired man answered flatly, a flicker of impatience flashing across his gaze.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon! President, hurry up and give the order! Let’s finish this fast and go back for booze and a feast!”

The one shouting was a red‑haired girl with a baby face caked in heavy makeup. She was young, but her curves were already fully developed. Give her some time and she’d be a walking disaster for men.

The purple‑haired man glanced sideways. “Yanji, ease up on the perfume. You’re drowning out my cologne.”

The girl called Yanji covered her mouth and giggled, her whole body shaking like a flower in the wind, showing off her perfect figure. The guys nearby stared, dazed, like she’d cast a charm on them.

“President Dilu, you’re such a tease!”

Dilu ignored her flirting completely. With a casual wave of his hand, he declared, “Then, the Kempfer S‑rank bounty mission—Capture the Apsen Giant—begins now.”

The moment his voice fell, every young man and woman on the griffins leapt off. To land as fast as possible, they all dove headfirst. Their Battle Qi flared in all kinds of colors, painting the night sky.

At Dilu’s command, everyone jumped—everyone except Yanji. She just stayed where she was, smiling sweetly at him.

“Why aren’t you going down?” Dilu forced back the urge to gag. The smell of that perfume was brutal.

“Nooo way. I’m afraid you’ll get bored up here alone. As vice president of Silver Thousand Threads, the strongest club in Kempfer Royal Academy, it’s my duty to keep our dear president company under such a gorgeous night sky, you know?”

Without another word, Dilu stepped off and dropped, too lazy to even acknowledge her. Purple Battle Qi swirled around him. Unlike the others, his Qi didn’t flare outward, but tightened against his skin, forming a thin violet film.

No doubt about it—this was at least Great Fighter level. Only Great Fighters could draw their Battle Qi in like that. But to fully contain it within the body? That took at least a Fighting Overlord.

Battle Qi ranks went from Fighter, to Warrior, to Master, then Great Fighter, then Fighter King, and up to Fighting Overlord and Battle God.

Fighting Overlord was just one step below Battle God. Throughout history, anyone who reached that tier ended up either leading an SSS‑rank mercenary group or ruling a region as a warlord, dominating everything around them.

As for a true Battle God? Sorry, none have shown up yet.

This Dilu was the very same Dilu who used to be captain of the Guns & Roses Mercenary Group. After the battle at Dragon Fang Mountain, he realized he wasn’t suited to be a mercenary leader. On top of that, he’d accepted a promise from the Iceflower Evil God Dragon—keeping the group together would’ve felt insincere after that. So he disbanded the mercenary group, then on a whim enrolled in Kempfer Royal Academy.

As a first‑year, he founded the club Silver Thousand Threads. Within a single month, they’d snatched the title of strongest club in the whole academy.

As for Yanji’s crush on him, Dilu really couldn’t do anything about it. For some reason, he just had zero interest in women now. Ever since he saw that silver‑haired girl in Istan City, her figure had burned itself into his heart. Every time he looked at another woman, all he felt was stars trying to compete with the moon—pointless, and honestly a bit nauseating.

He’d even named his club for her. Those countless strands of silver hair had kept him awake through endless nights.

“Where are you, my angel? Do you know how hard I’ve been searching for you…” Dilu murmured, face full of longing. He twisted in midair with a stylish spin and landed lightly on the ground.

Right then, Ryosuke was just stepping out of the Forest of Beginning’s boundary. Out of nowhere, he shivered, then let out a loud sneeze.

“Who’s thinking about me in the middle of the night? Don’t tell me it’s some fallen beauty. No, wait, I’ve seen way too many cutesy girls and lolis these days. Best if it’s a sexy big sis type. Heh heh!”

The loli in his arms suddenly went “Aah‑woof” in her sleep. Ryosuke almost chucked her away like a wild cat, then hurriedly tightened his hold.

Yeah right. The girl in his arms was a bona fide member of the Twelve Demon Kings—his lifesaving shield, get‑out‑of‑death‑free card, and personal pillow, all in one.

The members who had entered the Forest of Beginning ahead of the others fired a signal. A red flare shot up into the sky.

“Target located.”

Dilu was about to move when Yanji somehow sidled up beside him again. There was no escaping that perfume. It was so strong he could smell it even with his nose pinched.

Persistent as a ghost.

He cursed inwardly and suddenly pushed his Battle Qi to the limit. Unlike Ryosuke, Dilu had already been active in the human world for years. His Battle Qi had reached Peak Dou King.

Yanji, who’d been right next to him, was left in the dust. Instead of being upset, her eyes filled with even more adoration—and a hint of possessiveness—as she stared at Dilu’s back. She drew a sharp breath and shot after him.

She was a Fighter King too—just a step behind Dilu.