Chapter 7 - Infinite Vassals

"Infinite Vassals, as the name suggests, allow the Master to have an unlimited number of servants, as long as he has the Servant Cards." Ryuuga explained with a smile.

"The power of the servants is based on the power of their Master. Typically, a servant's power is two ranks below that of their Master.

The servants can also become Masters, but their power is still based on their original Master and is only one rank below. Their servants will then be two ranks below them."

"Hmm… I think it's a good idea. So, the servants can't betray their Master, right?" Cleria nodded, noting a potential reason for the design.

"Yes." Ryuuga affirmed. He appreciated Cleria's intelligence and valued her suggestions and insights for his research.

"The materials used for these cards are far superior to those used for the Evil Pieces and Brave Saints, so the empowerment they provide is significantly greater." He continued. 

"However, the Infinite Vassals are not for public use. Only those I choose will have access to them."

"For the Servant Cards, besides Caster and Saber, there are also Smasher, Archer, Lancer, Hunter, Gunner, Healer, Brawler, and Tanker." Ryuuga continued, detailing each card's attributes.

Caster Card: Increases magic attack output, magic affinity, Elemental Mastery, and Magic Mastery. Best for elemental and debuff attack magicians.

Saber Card: Increases speed, attack speed, strength, Blade Mastery, and Sword Mastery. Best for sword and blade users.

Smasher Card: Increases strength, defense, and Heavy Weapon Mastery. Best for heavy weapon users such as halberds, axes, hammers, and so on.

Archer Card: Increases speed, attack speed, dexterity, and Bow Mastery. Best for long-range weapon users.

Lancer Card: Increases speed, dexterity, strength, and Spear Mastery. Best for long weapon users such as lances, spears, and staffs.

Hunter Card: Increases speed, dexterity, lowers sense presence, Dagger Mastery, and Assassination Mastery. Best for assassins and thieves.

Gunner Card: Increases speed, attack speed, strength, dexterity, and Firearm Mastery. Best for firearms users.

Healer Card: Increases healing output, mana capacity, and Support Magic Mastery. Best for support and healing type power users.

Brawler Card: Increases strength, speed, defense, and Martial Arts Mastery. Best for hand-to-hand combatants.

Tanker Card: Increases defense, stamina, durability, strength, and Shield Mastery. Best for defensive and shield users.

Each card is designed to enhance specific attributes and skills, making them ideal for various combat roles.

Other than the Master Card, Ryuuga had also created each of the Servant Cards for himself to test their functionality.

If they were correct, he could simply create a machine to mass-produce the Master and Servant Cards. That was the best thing about magical engineering! With a sufficient amount of Arcadium, he could create as many of the Infinite Vassals Cards as he wanted.

"Well, let's try it." Ryuuga said, holding the Master Card in his hand. He wanted to test it first on himself.

"Activate!" he commanded, and the Master Card shone brightly in golden light as it entered his body.

As soon as the card entered his body, he felt his Qi multiply continuously, which made him feel uncomfortable.

He sat cross-legged, attempting to regulate his breath and the Qi inside his body, but the increase was overwhelming, causing him to struggle.

Then, his Qi Core inside him exploded. It was a dire situation for a cultivator like himself. A Qi Core explosion meant that he had no way to cultivate anymore in his life.

But his Qi Core didn't explode due to an accident. Rather, it created a new and larger core after the explosion. The new core retained the same golden color but now bore black-purple patterns.

This was what cultivators referred to as the Golden Core. Only those with exceptional talent could achieve it. The earlier one formed the Golden Core, the greater their potential achievements would be.

With his Golden Core formed, Ryuuga sensed a significant increase in his Qi capacity and output. Golden Cores also varied in grades. His was the highest grade, the Immortal Golden Core, which he named the Evolution Devouring Golden Core.

The formation of the Golden Core was influenced by the cultivation technique used by the cultivator, which was why he named his Golden Core after elements from his technique.

"High-Stage of Grandmaster Realm..." Ryuuga murmured as he opened his eyes. His power had surged from the Innate Realm to the High-Stage Grandmaster Realm, an increase of four ranks.

For a normal cultivator, even one considered a genius, increasing their cultivation rank by four ranks like Ryuuga did might cripple them or limit their future achievements due to a lack of a solid foundation.

However, Ryuuga didn't face such a setback, once again thanks to his cultivation technique, which consolidated his cultivation as soon as he reached the realm.

In the Grandmaster Realm, cultivation is divided into Low, Middle, High, Peak, and Great Perfection stages, with each stage counting as a rank. The power gap between each stage is significant, especially in higher realms like the Land Immortal Realm.

A cultivator at the Great Perfection stage of the Land Immortal Realm could easily defeat tens of Peak-Stage Land Immortal Realm cultivators.

Let me briefly explain the details of each realm Ryuuga has advanced through:

Master Realm: Capable of using Qi attacks from a distance, such as sword aura, and more.

Grandmaster Realm (Low): Formation of the Golden Core.

Grandmaster Realm (Middle): Ability to create Divine Sense, covering the surrounding area with Qi to sense the presence of beings within.

Grandmaster Realm (High): Swift regeneration of severe injuries and detached body parts, along with increased speed for traveling long distances in a matter of seconds.

The Master Card increased his mana by 30 times, elevating him to the status of a Peak Ultimate-Class Devil. With this boost, his strength could now rival even Satan-Class Devils like Serafall Leviathan and Falbium Asmodeus.

Of course, figures like Ajuka Beelzebub and Sirzechs Lucifer were in a league of their own, ranking among the top 10 strongest beings in the DXD world.

"You did it!" Cleria exclaimed, her excitement evident. She had witnessed his tireless efforts over the past two months, sometimes staying up late into the night absorbed in his research.

"Well, how about you choose one too?" Ryuuga suggested with a smile, offering her the Servant Cards. He was delighted with his success and eager for Cleria to share in his accomplishments.

Recognizing her importance as his maid and aide, he wanted her to have the strength to match, unwilling for her to be left behind.

He's powerful, but his maid is so weak? How could he accept that?

"This..." Cleria hesitated. She didn't want to take advantage of him anymore because she couldn't offer him anything except for...

But, as she thought about it, she shook her head, a blush appearing on her cheeks. What was she thinking? He was only five years old, and she was already 17...

"Don't worry. Just take it." He was confused by her sudden blush, shaking his head and insisting.

"O-Okay." Cleria knew she couldn't defy his order, so she nodded and pointed at the Gunner Card.

"Gunner?" Ryuuga raised an eyebrow, glancing at Cleria curiously, asking for her reasoning. He thought she would choose the Caster Card because of her power.

"Well, I think Gunner is the most suitable for me. I could use my power in the form of bullets and eliminate attacks with it." Cleria explained her idea.

As soon as he heard her reason, he nodded in agreement. Her idea was quite good. As long as she knew the properties of the attack, she could counter them. Maybe in the future, if he had a power that could analyze the properties of an attack, he would share it with her.

This was also one of the functions of Infinite Vassals. He could share his abilities with his servants.

"Activate." Having chosen her card, Ryuuga took the Gunner Card and stored the others in his pocket before uttering the activation word.

Similarly, the Gunner Card turned golden and entered Cleria's body.

"Hnghh!"

As soon as the Gunner Card entered her body, her energy surged, increasing several times over. Similar to Ryuuga before, it caused her pain, but she tried to endure it. Her energy spike was due to Ryuuga's influence rather than the properties of the card.

Seeing Cleria's struggle, Ryuuga decided to help her. He took her hand and channeled his Qi to alleviate her burden and calm her turbulent energy.

"Haa! Haa!"

Before long, Cleria's wild energy subsided, and she slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. But she could feel her power had increased exponentially.

"What's this?" Cleria was shocked when she activated her energy. Instead of the Devil Energy she usually wielded, it was the same energy Ryuuga used.

"That's Qi. You felt pain not only because of the increase in energy, but also because your Devil Energy is being converted to Qi." Ryuuga explained. Now, her base energy wasn't Devil Energy anymore, but Qi. However, she could still use Devil Energy's traits effortlessly.

This was the rule attached to the Servant Cards. Their energy would be converted to the same as his because it had been proven that Qi could lead him to become an Immortal Emperor, while Devil Energy's maximum capacity could only make a pair of devils among the top 10 strongest beings in the world.

If it were his former life, he could probably be able to slap Great Red and even Melvazoa of the EXE Universe to death with ease.

"Congratulations. Now your power should be on par with the devil leader who attacked you before." Ryuuga congratulated her with a slight smile.

"...Did I become the same as you, Ryuuga-sama?" Cleria asked, confused. She only just realized that she somehow has the same energy as him.

"Yes. People like us are called cultivators. We cultivate, cultivate, and cultivate, until we reach the peak of existence!" Ryuuga explained with slight excitement. In his previous life, he didn't have anyone to talk to about cultivation because most of the strong beings out there were his enemies.

Unfortunately for Cleria, he couldn't remember any cultivation techniques except for the one he used now, so he couldn't teach her about cultivation. The cultivation technique he used is not suitable for her.

Well, she could still grow stronger, though, if he grows stronger too.

"How about you get some mithril and diamond in England? I need them for my next creations and also to create your guns too." Ryuuga suggested to Cleria. He knew that Cleria was not the kind of woman who liked to get something for nothing. That's why he assigned her on a simple mission to get materials.

"Okay!" Cleria nodded with excitement and went away from Arcadia to the outside world.

After she left, Ryuuga went to the living room to enjoy his rest while reading comic books of this world. Although they're not as good as the ones in his previous life, they're still readable.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

One hour later.

Ryuuga was still in the living room, engrossed in reading manga from his world. Suddenly, he felt a slight change in the space of Arcadia and glanced towards the door that existed in the living room.

The thing is, he only installed one door inside Arcadia, and it was in his living room. For the other rooms, he could just teleport to their floors.

Then, the door opened, and a beautiful young girl with blonde hair appeared from it. As soon as she passed through the door, it closed automatically.

"Um…?" She was confused as to why she suddenly appeared in a room. She had entered the door from her garden because she wanted to escape from the problem she was currently facing.

Yes, the girl was Lavinia Reni.