Rubick opened his eyes and returned to human form, keeping only the Dragon Horns on his forehead.
Human again, he clenched his fists and rolled his neck, savoring a body he had not felt in so long. He could tell he had grown stronger in every way.
He knew he had Awakened.
Rubick had once imagined himself as a deity from Dragon Kingdom mythology. That was why he had gradually lost his humanity, becoming detached and free of desire. Later, though, he had changed his thinking. After all, no one became a deity in the Dragon Kingdom just like that. Every deity had targets to meet, and anyone who failed was struck from the divine rolls.
To be a deity in the Dragon Kingdom, you needed a specific purpose. It had no room for idle gods.
That made Rubick think of his own power: space. He made connecting two worlds his target, felt perfectly at ease with it, and Awakened.
Rubick saw himself as the god who connected two worlds, with spatial power as his divine duty.
Once he had worked that out, Rubick quickly returned to Sky Country and learned what had been happening. He contacted Akainu and bluntly asked if he intended to start a war.
Akainu was furious, but he did not dare go to war with Rubick now. He had a bigger headache: Germa Kingdom was about to ally with Big Mom.
After giving Akainu a thorough dressing-down, Rubick went back to reassure Vivi. In the end, he did not go looking for trouble with the Celestial Dragons. If war broke out, it would be a costly fight with nothing to show for it.
Rubick was not arrogant enough to think he could overthrow the Celestial Dragons and take their place. Fighting them would bring him