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"Seventh Gate—Gate of Shock, OPEN!"Riku didn't even spare the raging black dragon a glance. He activated the Seventh Gate, his whole body now engulfed in blazing blue energy. His aura exploded to its peak.
BOOM—!
In the blink of an eye, Riku vanished and reappeared right in front of the dragon's underbelly, slamming a punch straight into it.
CRACK—!
A loud explosion rang out as the black dragon's belly caved in, scales shattered, and the massive beast was blasted high into the air like a cannonball.
"GRAAAHHH!!"The dragon howled in agony, the roar from earlier now reduced to a pained scream. That hit definitely hurt.
But Riku wasn't done. With a cold expression, he stepped off the air, shattering it beneath him, and shot upward at full speed.
"Damn you, monkey! DIE!!"The dragon managed to stabilize mid-air and let out a furious roar. Using Dragonkin magic, it unleashed a Word of Power.
In an instant, Riku's body seemed to crack and shatter, blood flying everywhere.
"Hmph, that's what you get for messing with me," the dragon sneered.
"Big lizard, you really are full of yourself. Here, let me send you flying again."Suddenly, Riku reappeared right in front of the dragon's face. With a spinning Rising Dragon Kick, he blasted the dragon back again, blood spraying everywhere.
Then the real carnage began. In the sky above, the black dragon was getting absolutely wrecked like a ragdoll. Riku's attacks were too fast, too powerful—the dragon couldn't even land a single hit.
"My master really was holding back when we fought last time…" Jibril said, full of admiration as she watched.
Shubi, on the other hand, had a complicated look in her eyes.
Far away, Zhuyue watched the fight from afar and just sighed in exasperation. "I told them not to provoke Riku… but no, they had to go and pick a fight."
"But still… compared to a week ago, his power has grown a lot," she muttered, eyes locked on Riku as he manhandled the dragon.
Just a week ago, Riku had needed to go all out to even hurt her. Now, without using any finishing moves, he was completely destroying a dragon nearly as strong as her. His growth was insane.
"So that's the human you were talking about, Zhuyue? Yeah, he's crazy strong," said a few white dragons flying over to her, eyes wide in shock.
They had doubted Zhuyue's story about being beaten by a human. Not anymore.
"Yeah," she said with a complicated nod.
"Shouldn't we step in or something?" one white dragon asked hesitantly.
"He brought this on himself. Let him take the beating," Zhuyue said coolly.
"Well, I'm more worried other dragons might get involved. Ever since Lord Yanlong fell, they've all been freakishly united—they do everything together now," another white dragon warned.
"We'll deal with that if it happens. For now, let Riku teach them a lesson. They've been totally against the alliance. Let them get humbled. Lord Conglong hasn't even returned yet—who do they think they are, making moves like this?" Zhuyue said firmly.
"Fair enough," the white dragons all nodded and silently watched the battle.
"Damn human!!"Back in the sky, the black dragon—named Warde—was completely losing it. Roaring in rage, he gathered an enormous amount of energy in his jaws and fired a massive breath attack straight at Riku.
"Getting blinded by anger… how pathetic," Riku said coldly. As the five-meter-wide dragon breath hurtled toward him, he simply raised his Zanpakutō and held it in front of him.
In an instant, the dragon breath vanished. The Zanpakutō shimmered faintly, looking strangely beautiful.
"What?!"Warde's eyes went wide with disbelief. His ultimate attack… had just disappeared?!
"You dumb lizard. Here—take it back!" Riku pointed his blade at the black dragon."Bloom, Hanawheel."
BOOOOM—!
The tip of the Zanpakutō flared with blinding light, then fired a scorching beam into the sky. It slammed straight into the stunned Warde.
The explosion was massive, lighting up the sky as a shockwave ripped through the air. Down below, Shubi and Jibril instinctively raised shields to protect themselves.
But even as they defended, they didn't look away for a second.
"Whoa… it can absorb energy and fire it back? That sword's something else," one of the white dragons said in amazement.
"Just keep watching—you'll get it soon enough. Riku's not just about brute force. His real strength lies in how he toys with his enemies until they're done for. He's a damn genius in battle," Zhu Yue said with a sigh, her eyes filled with wariness.
That day she fought Riku, she was toyed with from beginning to end. Everything she did was part of his plan. She lost completely—and didn't even manage to scratch him.
That was back then. And now, he's even stronger.
A few seconds later, the explosion finally faded. Everyone saw Vard, the black dragon, appear—his scales shattered, blood pouring everywhere. He looked utterly wrecked.
The pain all over his body was unbearable. Just as Vard was about to manipulate time to heal himself, Riku suddenly popped up right in front of him, making his pupils shrink in shock.
"Trying to mess with time now? Naive." Riku sneered, then slammed a kick into Vard's head.
"Boom—!"
A deep, muffled thud echoed out as Vard got sent flying again, shooting through the sky like a meteor.
"Crash—!"
A massive mountain in the distance shattered on impact as Vard slammed into it. He was left embedded in the rubble, bleeding out and barely hanging on.
"How the hell is a human this powerful…?!" Vard was in complete disbelief, staring at Riku like he was looking at a monster. A creeping sense of death started to claw at him.
This guy… might really kill me.
Just as Riku was about to land another hit and finish Vard off, a violent gust of wind exploded in the sky. Three massive black dragons suddenly soared in, surrounding Riku. Their dragon eyes locked onto him, each radiating killing intent.
"Tch. So you can't beat me one-on-one, and now you're calling for backup? Real brave," Riku said coolly, totally unfazed even though he was surrounded by three Dragonkin elites. His voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Human, you're strong, we'll admit that. But since you dared attack our kin, we have no choice. You must be destroyed," one of the black dragons said in a deep, threatening voice.
"Causing chaos on our turf like this—death is the only way we can protect our dignity," another added.
The last one didn't say a word, just stared Riku down.
"Hah! This is hilarious. You guys used to look down on humans like me, and now you're ganging up on me? And you've got the nerve to talk about dignity? You picked this fight first, remember?" Riku laughed out loud, mockery written all over his face.
"....."