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"Tch. Right or wrong doesn't matter anymore," Vard muttered bitterly. He took advantage of the pause to manipulate time and heal himself, then rose into the sky again, clearly pissed off.
Yeah, four Dragonkin ganging up on one human looked really bad. But they couldn't just walk away now either. They were stuck.
"Exactly—right and wrong don't mean shit now. My only goal is to beat you overgrown lizards into the ground," Riku grinned and let out a wild laugh.
"Watch your mouth, human!" That was the last straw. Vard lunged in first, swinging his massive claws toward Riku. The other three dragons followed suit—some spewing magic words, others unleashing dragon breath.
"BOOM—!"
But all the attacks hit nothing but air, erupting in the sky with earth-shaking blasts. Riku had vanished.
"It's come to this, huh? Shouldn't we step in?" one of the white dragons watching from afar spoke up, looking uncomfortable. Four Dragonkin ganging up on one guy… it was embarrassing.
"No need. Just keep watching. The outcome's not clear yet. Honestly, I think Riku has the upper hand," Zhu Yue replied, her eyes never leaving the battlefield. She was thinking about Riku's illusion powers—it wasn't that simple.
"Oh? Now I'm curious." The other white dragons perked up and focused in.
Then, the very next moment—they all froze, their dragon eyes wide in shock.
Because Vard's dragon breath had definitely hit Riku… but the next second, Riku turned into one of the black dragons. The attack had landed squarely on one of their own.
"Vard! What the hell?!" The black dragon who took the hit screamed in fury. He was only there to back Vard up—and now he got friendly-fired in the face.
"I swear I was aiming at the human!" Vard stammered, staring at his bleeding ally, completely baffled.
"Heh. This is getting fun. Turning on each other already?" Riku reappeared nearby, holding his Zanpakutō with an amused grin.
When it came to Kyōka Suigetsu (Mirror Flower, Water Moon), numbers didn't matter. Actually, more enemies just meant more ways to screw with them.
Didn't Aizen take on a whole lineup of bosses solo and have them slicing each other up without even realizing it?
"Shut your mouth, human!" The wounded black dragon roared in rage, letting loose another stream of dragon breath aimed right at Riku.
"Whoosh—!" It engulfed "Riku" in flames.
But in the blink of an eye, Riku's figure morphed again—this time into another black dragon. The dragon breath he returned was devastating, punching clean through the original attacker's body, blood spraying everywhere.
"Tanley! What the hell?!" The black dragon howled in pain, barely managing to use time manipulation to heal himself before roaring in rage.
"I didn't mean to—!" Tanley stammered, totally lost.
"Be careful—his power's probably illusion-based," Vard said grimly.
"You tricky little bastard!" the other three black dragons roared in fury. Getting completely played in a 4v1 fight? Total humiliation.
"Hey, don't blame me 'cause you're dumb," Riku said, suddenly appearing on Vard's back with a smirk.
"Thud—!" And with that, he stomped down hard. A sickening crack rang out as Vard's back caved in, his scales shattered, and his body plummeted like a meteor. He smashed into the ground, shaking the whole mountain range and blasting rocks everywhere.
"Boom time." The remaining three dragons, pissed beyond belief, activated their Dragonkin "word magic." The entire battlefield erupted in massive explosions. Space itself trembled, and deafening blasts echoed nonstop.
Riku's body was blown apart in the blast—yet the smirk on his face just before it happened left the dragons with a gnawing sense of dread.
And sure enough—Riku reappeared the next second, standing on another dragon's head, and kicked him like a soccer ball straight through several mountains.
A human—who was tiny compared to any Dragonkin—had just kicked one of them halfway across the continent. The scene was absolutely insane.
Even when all four dragons went full rage mode, throwing everything they had without caring about the consequences—they still couldn't even touch Riku. Most of their attacks were turned against their own teammates through manipulated senses. Their relationships were on the verge of collapse.
If they hadn't figured out this was all Riku's doing, they'd probably be killing each other already.
The frustration? Off the charts. They were getting played like puppets, and there was nothing they could do about it.
"Told you this would happen," Zhu Yue sighed. "His power's totally busted. I mean, I'm sure it has limits… but I sure as hell haven't found them."
"Ugh… poor Vard and the others," muttered one of the white dragons, clearly fed up with what they were seeing.
Good thing they hadn't done anything stupid like picking a fight with Riku. Otherwise, they'd be getting curb-stomped just like those four.
Now they finally understood why Zhu Yue would follow a human so loyally. The guy was just that good.
And based on what Zhu Yue had told them, this human had gone from barely holding his own against her to casually humiliating four Dragonkin—in just one week. That kind of growth? Ridiculous.
No wonder she saw endless potential in him.
The surrounding white dragons nodded to themselves, fully convinced.
"Ehehehe~ Master's so awesome! He's completely playing those dumb dragons like toys. I wonder what other tricks Master's hiding. I can't wait to see more," said Jibril, floating high in the sky, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Hey, by the way, Zhu Bi—did you already know it was gonna go down like this?" she suddenly turned to Zhu Bi, who had been calmly watching the whole time.
To be honest, Jibril had been a little worried at first. After all, going up against four Dragonkin at once wasn't exactly child's play.
"Riku… won't lose," Zhu Bi said with unwavering certainty.
"Oho~ Looks like I didn't trust Master enough. I'll reflect on that properly," Jibril laughed, eyes full of admiration.
"....."