Honestly, if he could, he really wanted to say:
'No problem, I could totally go another ten minutes.'
But... unfortunately, his body strongly disagreed.
Right now, he was completely lightheaded, his whole body floating in a dazed, dreamlike state. He could clearly feel how weak he'd become, but strangely enough... there wasn't the slightest trace of discomfort.
In fact, it felt kind of nice — like drifting through a hazy euphoria.
This... this was definitely not the usual "after fun with a girl" kind of exhaustion.
"Is the Gremory family half succubus or something?"
Ryuji really wanted to blurt that out — but of course, there was no way Rias would give him a straight answer.
After all, she'd just extracting off a good chunk of his life force, and thanks to that, her magic power had partially recovered.
Her pale face was now flushed with healthy color, her once-fatigued eyes now clear and sharp again.
He, on the other hand... could barely even stand.
Without hesitation, Rias bent down and effortlessly scooped him up into a princess carry, holding him gently in her arms. Then she turned to look at Lux, whose face was burning bright red, and asked calmly:
"Lux, how's your magic recovery coming along?"
Lux, flustered beyond belief, looked at Rias, took a deep breath, and carefully sensed the energy flowing within her body.
Finally, she answered softly, "About halfway recovered."
Hearing that, a faint, almost wicked smile appeared on Rias' face.
"Perfect. It's about time we clean up this mess we got ourselves into."
She turned her gaze down to Ryuji in her arms, and her expression softened into something unusually gentle.
"Mr. Ryuji... thank you for lending me your strength. I promise I won't let it go to waste."
Rias spoke softly, her voice full of sincerity.
Ryuji really wanted to reply with "Alright, it's up to you," but unfortunately... he didn't even have the strength left to speak. At this point, he could only let Rias do as she pleased.
What he didn't know, though, was that at this very moment — Rias was quietly reevaluating him.
"Looks like I misjudged Mr. Ryuji.."
A faint, almost playful smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
"He's not just some ordinary human after all."
As Rias felt the vital energy within her gradually transforming into pure magic power, even she couldn't help but feel surprised.
Ryuji's energy was... too pure.
It was so clean, so untouched — as if it had never been tainted or influenced by anything else in the world.
That kind of purity made the conversion into magic incredibly efficient. The recovery speed and the resulting power were astonishing.
But at the same time, it raised a troubling question in Rias's mind.
For energy to remain this untouched... it would mean that he had grown up in an environment completely devoid of magic.
And that — was impossible.
Magic was the very foundation of this world. Whether it was the holy power of angels or the dark energy of demons, in the end, it all originated from the same source — mana.
Sure, it might take different forms or properties depending on its wielder, but at its core, it was all the same: a fusion of spiritual and physical energy.
Yet within Ryuji's body... there wasn't a trace of that. No signs of adapted or converted mana at all.
It was as if...
He was a human from the very beginning of time. Untouched. Pristine.
In their world, a human like that was nothing short of a priceless treasure.
But... those kinds of humans should have long since disappeared.
Still, now wasn't the time to dwell on mysteries.
Rias raised her hand, spreading a magic circle beneath their feet. With a surge of power, the massive chunk of earth above their heads trembled — then exploded upward, scattering in every direction.
Above them, the sky darkened.
A dense swarm of zombie birds hovered like a black storm cloud, shrieking hungrily.
"Lux!" Rias shouted.
"Yes!"
Lux instantly understood what Rias wanted her to do. Without hesitation, she raised her staff high, and beams of light shot into the sky one after another.
Like a lighthouse in the middle of a storm, paths of light carved their way through the endless horde of zombie birds, clearing a route toward their target — a small steel cabin completely surrounded by the monsters.
Rias narrowed her eyes.
"Looks like I'll really owe him a proper apology after this."
With a flick of her hand, a magic shield expanded around her, covering both Ryuji and Lux, protecting them from the incoming tide of zombie birds.
But of course — just because Rias was carrying him didn't mean she couldn't unleash absolute carnage.
Magic circles began to bloom around her like flowers in full bloom.
Countless fireballs and waves of flame spiraled outward from her shield, tearing through the undead birds like paper. Any monster that dared get close was instantly incinerated.
And once she passed Ryuji over to Lux to support him, Rias' fingertips began to crackle with arcs of electricity.
"I might not be as good as Akeno when it comes to lightning magic... but after hanging around her all the time, I've picked up a few tricks."
A cold, dangerous smile spread across Rias' face.
And then — thunder roared.
Bolts of lightning exploded out from newly-formed magic circles, arcing wildly across the sky, striking down wave after wave of zombie birds. The current didn't stop there — it chained between targets, jumping from corpse to corpse in a deadly dance of destruction.
In an instant, aside from the steel shelter she had deliberately avoided, the entire sky was consumed by flashing lightning.
Countless zombie birds and the stench of burning flesh filled the air. Within several hundred meters, every infected creature had been wiped out — but even so, an endless swarm of zombie birds continued to descend from the sky like a dark tide.
"…This is really turning into a mess," Rias muttered through gritted teeth.
Once again, she summoned a sphere of blazing flame, hurling it into the flock.
If only one of her familiars were here, this wouldn't even be a problem. He could've easily used blood magic to ignite the remnants of blood within these creatures, instantly blowing them all to pieces.
But she couldn't do that.
For her, taking down these monsters required far more effort.
That's why she had no intention of staying to fight a war of attrition. After clearing out the immediate threats, she turned without hesitation, dashing straight toward the steel shelter and landing heavily at its entrance.
Inside, Kiri had already noticed the situation outside. Without delay, she opened the door, pulling Rias and the others in.
But the moment Kiri took Ryuji from Lux's arms, her expression darkened. Without hesitation, she raised her gun, pressing it against Rias' forehead.
"Mind explaining," Kiri said coldly, "why our man looks like this right now?"
Her tone was dangerous.
More than the swarm of monsters Rias had brought in her wake, Kiri was far more concerned about Ryuji's current state — limp, unconscious, completely out of it.
"I'm sorry," Rias said calmly, her voice neither defensive nor irritated by Kelly's hostility. "Mr. Ryuji ended up like this because I drained a portion of his life force. But please rest assured — I haven't harmed his body in any way. As long as he gets some rest, he'll recover fully."
She wasn't offended by Kiri's reaction. If anything, she felt guilty.
"I apologize for all the trouble I've caused you," Rias added sincerely. "But please believe me — once I've had a little time to recover my strength, I will deal with this crisis myself."
She bowed deeply to Kiri— and to Tsunade, who was trembling nervously nearby — making it clear she didn't intend to rise until they responded. Beside her, Lux bowed as well, offering a quiet apology.
"Tch. You'd better keep your word," Kiri scoffed, unimpressed but willing to give them a chance — for now.
She holstered her gun and dragged Ryuji over to the bed, placing him down beside Tsunade so he could rest properly.
Ryuji, meanwhile, was completely out of it — his mind hazy, body heavy, as if all his strength had been drained away. Even when Kiri would occasionally crack open the viewing hatch and fire shots at the monsters outside, the sharp bangs didn't wake him. Before long, he'd drifted into sleep in Tsunade's trembling arms.
The steel shelter fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.
Kiri had no interest in talking to strangers who'd brought nothing but trouble — especially not to the woman responsible for putting Ryuji in this state. And Rias, along with Lux, had nothing to say either — the awkwardness in the air thick enough to cut with a knife.
Fortunately, Ryuji didn't stay unconscious for long.
Before much time had passed, his dazed mind gradually cleared, the aftereffects of having his life force drained slowly fading away. What finally dragged him fully back to reality... was the sharp crack of gunfire from Kiri.
Only then did the small steel shelter feel like it was returning to some semblance of normal.
Slowly opening his groggy eyes, he saw — illuminated by the flickering torchlight — Kiri standing by the firing slit, calmly taking shots at whatever was trying to get in. Meanwhile, Rias and Lux sat obediently on a pair of wooden crates, looking for all the world like schoolkids awaiting their punishment.
Ryuji blinked, shook his head a little, just to make sure this wasn't some bizarre dream. Once he was certain he really was back inside the safety of the steel shelter, he couldn't help but ask:
"…It's still not over?"
The constant banging and rattling of the metal walls filled his ears, and glancing toward the firing slit, he could see wave after wave of zombie birds still hurling themselves at their little stronghold.
He frowned.
Rias had drained him to this extent… and she still hadn't cleaned up the problem outside?
Just how many of those damn birds were there?
"Hah! Not even close," Kiri snorted without looking back. "There's at least tens of thousands more out there."
Seeing he awake finally put her in a slightly better mood — but judging by her face, she was still far from happy.
At that moment, Rias finally sensed it was safe for her to speak again.
"I'm truly sorry, Mr. Ryuji," Rias said sincerely. "But it seems this world really is as strange and hostile as you described. And… it clearly doesn't like anything flying in its skies."
She took a deep breath, her expression equal parts frustration and helplessness.
"I did some quick calculations just now — I was only in the air for a few dozen minutes, and during that short time, this world unleashed hundreds of thousands of those monstrous birds to attack me! At first, there were only one or two... but after that, every wave that came at me grew larger and faster in both number and frequency!"
His mouth twitched slightly.
He had actually thought about building a helicopter at some point, maybe even flying one to escape during a Blood Moon event or something. After all, they did have Kiri here, and their crafting menu even listed gyroplane as an available option.
But hearing this…
Wasn't that thing basically a flying coffin in this world?
"This world is just…" he sighed, too exhausted to even complain properly anymore.
But just as he was lamenting their ridiculous situation — a familiar notification sound suddenly echoed in his mind.
His real, official system had sent him a message.
He opened it absentmindedly — only to freeze in shock at the two terrifying prompts that popped up in front of him:
Warning! Your authority as the 'Seven Days to Die: Lord of the Dimension' is being surpassed!
Rias Gremory and Luxana Crownguard have officially surpassed your authority as Master of this dimension!
Ryuji's mind went blank.
What the hell?!
~~~~~~~~~~
Bonus chapter target: 300 PS.