"I really have been underestimated." Riku curled his lips, clearly displeased.
With that, Riku suddenly gathered the mighty Phoenix Flame and struck toward Athena.
However, in the next instant, Poseidon beside Athena revealed his powerful divinity, and behind him surged the phantom of a vast ocean.
Then, as if rushing in from the other side of the horizon, an endless deep blue sea carrying boundless divine power fiercely collided with Riku's Phoenix Flame.
The moment divine water and divine fire clashed, they neutralised each other. Steam infused with divinity spread across the space, before once again being pulled back by Poseidon and condensed into divine water.
"Useless." Poseidon smiled lightly at Riku.
"Phoenix Flame on our side, we have Poseidon to restrain you. Sorry, Hero of Humanity, but you've already been checkmated." Athena's gaze was cold and sharp as she spoke.
With trump cards exhausted and his inflated power bound to have limits, even his Phoenix Flame restrained, and with two top-tier three-digit gods plus the three-digit Star Spirit, the Star Sea Dragon King, and a pure-blooded dragon on their side, Athena considered Riku nothing more than prey.
"Your companion is Poseidon, meant to counter me. Looks like that guy Apollo leaked my information." Riku said slowly.
"Hmph. That fool Apollo was far too careless, losing in the preliminaries. Otherwise, we could have laid out an even better plan." Athena's face turned frosty, clearly dissatisfied with Apollo.
"Careless? He wasn't careless; it was just the gap in strength." Riku sneered. As one of the Olympian Twelve, Apollo's power was only mid-level three-digit, far weaker than Athena and Poseidon, both top-tier three-digits.
Athena frowned at his words but didn't argue. It was the truth, though, as his comrade, she wouldn't badmouth him in front of an outsider.
"That's enough talk. Hero of Humanity, accept your destined defeat." Athena suddenly summoned her Spear of Victory and her serpent-engraved shield, pointing them at Riku as she declared.
Without giving him the chance to reply, Athena raised the Spear of Victory high. A dazzling divine radiance burst forth, sweeping across the White Night's Horizon. Then she slashed the spear downward toward Riku.
The destructive light instantly erupted, splitting the targeted direction in two.
Facing the strike, Riku snorted coldly and threw a punch. Golden-red energy burst forth, a towering fist imprint clashing head-on with Athena's divine spear light.
Boom!
In an instant, the violent explosion shook the White Night's Horizon once again, destructive divine light ravaging the already battered environment.
"Destruction attribute? But that's useless against me." Athena's eyes narrowed as she spoke coldly.
At the same time, Poseidon and the Star Sea Dragon King moved as well, taking positions to Riku's left and right, unleashing immense divine might.
Crash!
On the left, Poseidon unleashed a violent surge of divine water.
On the right, the Star Sea Dragon King's horns glowed, and from his mouth erupted an azure divine flame, no weaker than Riku's Phoenix Flame.
"Planning to end me quickly with numbers?" Riku sneered. "But I won't let you have your way. Those who think they've cornered me always end up miserable."
Recklessly, Riku unleashed his aura without restraint. In that moment, he completely abandoned defence!
This caused Athena, Poseidon, and the Star Sea Dragon King to all frown, baffled at his intentions. Facing the combined assault of the three of them, especially with divine water that restrained him, abandoning defence was suicidal.
But even if they didn't understand his plan, they didn't care. All they had to do was pour out their power and finish him off.
Boom!
Divine water surged, divine fire rose, and destructive divine light spread, all three attacks forming a triangle and converging on the centre. The terrifying blast obliterated everything, turning the surroundings into a hellscape. Even the White Night's Horizon trembled.
Yet in the next instant, an even more violent energy erupted from the blast centre, forcing Athena, Poseidon, and the Star Sea Dragon King to narrow their eyes in shock.
Through the explosion, their divine sight faintly caught the silhouette of a man, the source of that overwhelming aura.
"This guy… still has a trump card!?" Athena's eyes flashed sharply.
"Looks that way." Poseidon's expression was one of shock.
"He hid too deeply." The Star Sea Dragon King gave a wry smile.
No sooner had they spoken than an even fiercer energy burst out, scattering their combined attack and forcing the three to brace against the backlash.
...
As the smoke cleared, a lone figure stood calmly within their encirclement.
Riku's golden hair had grown down to his waist, his eyebrows vanished, and his brow bone lowered; his once-light green eyes now contained deep blue pupils. His golden aura had condensed into radiant light, interlaced with denser lightning. His power had multiplied several times over.
"What is this form…?" Athena stared at Riku, confused. Normally, Little Garden's power came from liberating divinity. But Riku wasn't using that; this was some kind of strange explosive state that broke Little Garden's constraints.
Logically, such a state should have severe limits, draining energy and damaging the body.
Yet Riku showed none of that; his new form was stable, even growing stronger. It defied all reason.
Athena's brilliant mind had guessed right: a transformation akin to Super Saiyan. But she hadn't noticed the secret of Riku's Third Perpetual Motion Mechanism. And unless Riku chose to reveal it, almost no one would. Even the White Night King only knew because Riku let him.
"Are you really human?" Athena frowned as she looked at Riku, her face full of doubt.
"If the definition of human is carbon-based life, then naturally I am human."
Golden flames of energy surged wildly around him, sparks of electricity bursting forth in dense arcs. His golden hair whipped through the air as Riku stared coldly at Athena and replied with calm indifference.
"..."
Riku's answer made Athena, Poseidon, and the Star Sea Dragon King all knit their brows. Based on his soul pattern and every other aspect, he undeniably bore the traits of a human. Yet the explosive energy coursing through him was far too bizarre.
Not only was it not diminishing, but it remained stable at its peak. Its intensity had already reached the same level as Indra, the King of the Gods.
For a human to even possess a three-digit strength was already inconceivable, let alone stand at the very peak of the three-digits.
Indra was once a god-king who stood firm even against a two-digit full authority domain. Within all of Little Garden, those who could surpass him numbered fewer than twenty, seventeen of them being two-digit beings with full authority.
Yet the pressure Athena, Poseidon, and the Star Sea Dragon King now felt from Riku was in no way weaker than Indra's!
Riku's power shattered the very worldview of the gods and buddhas!
"Is that all you have to say? If so, then there's no need for more words." Sweeping his gaze across Athena, Poseidon, and the Star Sea Dragon King, who had encircled him, Riku's voice turned cold. "You enjoyed yourselves just now… so next, it's my turn."
As his words fell, his aura swelled even further, golden flames roaring outward until even the White Night's horizon trembled beneath their pressure.
…!
This oppressive aura instantly made Athena, Poseidon, and the Star Sea Dragon King feel their bodies grow heavy, their faces solemn as they braced themselves.
Boom!
In the very next instant, golden brilliance split through the skies. Riku vanished at pure speed, the space around him shuddering as he appeared before the Star Sea Dragon King in the blink of an eye.
As the dragon king's pupils contracted violently, Riku unleashed his fist, surging with overwhelming force. In that moment, he even invoked the Solar Authority of Taurus, raising his raw power to its absolute peak.
Crack!
Pssh!
His fist, moving faster than the Sixth Universe could perceive, struck the Star Sea Dragon King square on the head. In an instant, the dragon king's twin horns, the embodiment of his spirit, were shattered, and his entire head was blown apart into a spray of blood mist!
The punch did not stop there. Its force swept outward, tearing along the White Night's horizon, obliterating everything in its path. Mountains, clouds, forests, the shockwave of a single strike erased everything.
Thankfully, this was within the paradox field of the White Night horizon. Anywhere else, such a blow would have caused cataclysmic destruction.
Even stellar bodies would have been reduced to cosmic debris beneath its lingering force!
The Star Sea Dragon King was a star spirit and could not truly die without destroying the multiverse itself. But this was the Sun War. Having even his soul pattern shattered by brute force, he was incapacitated and immediately classified as "dead."
"Congratulations, contestant Riku Dola, for obtaining the Solar Authority—Libra!" At this moment, Laplace's little demon voice rang out on cue.
Overhead, one of the horizontally moving suns dimmed once again, declaring the result. The Star Sea Dragon King's corpse fell powerless toward the ground.
Fortunately, the Pseudo Star Map: Virtual Star—Tai Sui had already been activated, no longer requiring his constant control. Otherwise, Indra would have already broken free.
"How is this possible!? The Star Sea Dragon King… actually died!?" From afar, the white dragon fighting Juntan roared in disbelief, its voice filled with shock.
"As expected of the boss. He's gotten even stronger again… looks like I've got to push harder too." Juntan, watching from his own battlefield, bared his fangs in a draconic grin, his massive dragon eyes blazing with excitement.
"Hmph, thinking you had the boss cornered always leads to this result." Juntan snorted coldly. Even as a comrade of the [Disboard] community, he never truly knew the extent of Riku's trump cards. Every time their enemies assumed the boss was out of options, he would unveil something even more terrifying.
White Night King, Thor the Thunder God, Indra, Brahma, one after another, mighty gods, spirits, and dragons had all suffered dearly by making that mistake. Riku's bottom line was unfathomable.
Thus, Juntan's faith in Riku had long since grown into blind worship.
"The Star Sea Dragon King has fallen to your comrade. Then I'll claim you as his vengeance." The white dragon growled, murderous intent burning.
"Heh, bring it on. Who's afraid of who?" Juntan roared back. As another pure-blooded dragon with three-digit strength, there was no way he would yield.
As battle erupted once more on Juntan's side, flames burned hotter than ever, but Athena's battlefield had fallen into dead silence.
Both Athena and Poseidon bore expressions of shock upon their flawless faces. The Star Sea Dragon King might have been weaker than the two of them, but he was still a power who resounded throughout Little Garden, and he had just been obliterated in a single punch.
[Ding. Congratulations, Master, for opening a Diamond-grade Treasure Chest. You have obtained the Pseudo Star Map: Virtual Star—Tai Sui.]
Riku's mind rang with the system's prompt. His strike had slain the Star Sea Dragon King and simultaneously unlocked the chest.
"The Pseudo Star Map: Virtual Star Tai Sui, huh. To even duplicate something like this… as expected of the system." Casting a glance at the brilliant star overhead, Riku murmured in awe.
The power of Tai Sui had already been displayed; not even Indra could break free from its sealing might. In the future, it could even suppress the Last Trial of Humanity, [Absolute Evil] Azi Dahaka. Truly a weapon beyond compare.
It could be said that none of the Pseudo Star Maps, the ultimate authorities of the divine hosts, were anything short of overwhelming.
"Well then… should I try it out on them?" Riku's eyes calmly settled upon Athena and Poseidon, the thought crossing his mind.
But he quickly dismissed it. He had just revealed one overwhelming trump card; to frivolously waste another, newly gained one, merely for testing, would be careless.
"…Haa." Athena exhaled deeply, regaining her composure even as she met Riku's gaze. Her expression hardened once more, her aura soaring into the heavens.
"Human hero, I apologise for underestimating you earlier. But don't think I will surrender."
As the Goddess of War, Athena had triumphed in countless battles throughout her life. No matter how shocking Riku's feat, she would not lose her fighting spirit.
"Poseidon, it's time. Don't hold anything back." Athena's cold gaze turned to her ally.
"Tch, how troublesome… I'd rather not have my head blown off." Poseidon muttered, brushing her sky-blue hair aside. Yet even as she spoke, her aura steadied, her resolve sharpening.