Just as Riku had anticipated, within [Heaven] the legions of gods, the immortals of [Taoism], and the buddhas of the [Buddhist Order] reacted swiftly, throwing up a vast defence and turning all of [Heaven] into a battlefield.
Mighty divinities clashed everywhere, and terrifying shockwaves of combat rippled across the realm.
Riku, meanwhile, had already reached Taoism's treasure hall and shattered its barrier with a single punch.
"Damn it, he actually broke in here!"
"Demon Lord, don't you dare defile our sacred ground!" In an instant, a hundred or so [Taoist] immortals charged in, fury boiling over.
To the [Taoist] immortals, the alchemical treasure hall was a holy place, not to be profaned.
Now it had actually been invaded, an intolerable affront. The immortals who rushed in didn't care who the intruder was; they attacked without hesitation.
Immortals and gods are entirely different beings. They do not rely on divinity or on divine armaments; they cultivate immortal resonance, and in battle, they wield self-refined artefacts with a multitude of methods.
In a flash, countless magical implements flew from the hands of those hundred-odd immortals.
There were sealing types, binding types, and offensive types, the full spectrum of attributes on display.
"Noise," Riku said coolly as he glanced at the immortals encircling him.
A surge of phoenix fire then blanketed heaven and earth, burning through everything; the hundred-some immortals, together with their artefacts, were reduced to ash.
Having instant-killed the guards, Riku stepped up beside the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
[Star of Omniscience and Omnipotence] swept the inside of the furnace; Riku smiled faintly. Before he could blast it open, the terrifying Six Ding Divine Fire erupted of its own accord, reducing the hall to cinders.
From within the flames, a golden staff speared toward the sky.
An overwhelming divinity exploded out after it, shaking [Heaven] to its core.
Across the battlefield, every god and Buddha felt that familiar divinity and their faces changed.
"Even the Six Ding Divine Fire couldn't burn Sun Wukong to death? As expected, her mission isn't done. Little Garden won't let her die so easily. This is troublesome," Indra said, with grave features. [Heaven] had already been under crushing pressure; now Sun Wukong had broken free. And this divinity of hers was far stronger than before!
"Indra, facing me and still letting your mind wander? That annoys me," came a cold voice as the Son of God, Jesus, drove Indra flying with the [Godslayer Spear: Longinus].
Three-Digits cannot intervene upon the stage of the Two-Digits save for exceptions.
For example, the Queen of Halloween, an exception among the Three-Digits.
Or Indra, pinnacle of the Three-Digits, with a special divinity who could, by invoking his host privileges to forcibly draw the Son of God into his trial, resist a Two-Digit within his own domain.
But this was only a stopgap good for buying time.
Among the Three-Digits, only the Queen of Halloween could truly face a Two-Digit without falling behind.
"Apologies. It wasn't my intention," Indra said with a wry smile, meeting the Son's gaze.
"I suggest you give it your all. What happens outside isn't something you can meddle in right now. If you dare let your mind wander again, Indra, my next thrust goes through your heart," the Son of God said coldly, [Longinus] in hand.
"I understand that well enough." Indra drew in his focus; golden lightning surged like an ocean about him, and multiple vajras floated at his back, his eyes turning razor-sharp.
The opponent was a Two-Digit; even taking the risk to use host privileges, he couldn't win, only delay.
Otherwise, if Two-Digits ran rampant on the field, no number of gods and buddhas would be enough to stem the slaughter…
As for the Perpetual Motion Engine, he could no longer spare it a thought. All he could do was pray that those few would move quickly; the consequences otherwise were unimaginable.
…
Out of the Six Ding Divine Fire stepped a figure clad in divine armour, Sun Wukong.
Only now, Sun Wukong's power was incomparable to before. She had gained brand-new Gifts: the Diamond Body and the Fiery Golden Eyes.
In those brilliant pupils, Riku could see the Six Ding Divine Fire itself flickering, clear proof of how extraordinary they were.
"Riku?" The moment she escaped, Sun Wukong spotted him. Sensing that his aura felt wholly different, she asked in puzzlement.
"Mm. It's me," Riku said with a slight smile at the corner of his lips. "[Disboard] and the [Seven Heavens] came together to rescue you."
"I see." Sun Wukong nodded, moved.
"But now's not the time for that, the bothersome immortals are swarming again," Riku said, patting her shoulder.
As his hand fell upon her, Riku deliberately triggered the black treasure chest on Sun Wukong.
In that instant, the chest opened, and a system chime rang in Riku's mind.
[Ding Congratulations, Master: black treasure chest opened. Acquired ×2 'Dragon Ball Super — Angel Vados Summon Card.'"]
[Ding Congratulations, Master: fragments complete; converting to a full summon card.]
As the system finished speaking, a complete card appeared before Riku's eyes, the image upon it was Vados!
"Finally out, huh, Angel Vados." Riku's eyes shone as he stared at the summon card before him.
As expected, his hunch had been right: at her peak, Sun Wukong could yield the remaining two fragments! Truly a pivotal figure on a whole different level.
However, Riku had no intention of summoning her yet. Used at the critical moment, the effect would be beyond imagination.
"Demon Lord, how dare you destroy our sacred ground! Unforgivable!"
Countless furious shouts rose then, and the surroundings filled with a dense mass of immortals, gods, and buddhas far more than before.
Among them were immortals on par with god-kings.
"Sun Wukong, surrender at once and accept judgment!" a mighty Buddha roared, glaring at the staff that had pierced the sky.
"Judge me? And what gives you the right to judge me? Just because you are immortals? Because you are gods? Because you are buddhas? And because you brand me a 'yōkai,' I can be disposed of at will?" Sun Wukong's thunderous voice rolled as she glared at the immortals.
"In that case, I'll smash this [Heaven]!" Sun Wukong bellowed.
"I want this sky to no longer blind my eyes, this earth to no longer bury my heart; I want all beings to understand my will and all those buddhas to vanish like smoke!" The defiant roar against heaven and earth rang through [Heaven], stunning everyone.
Even Riku sighed inwardly. To witness myth re-enacted with one's own eyes was stirring indeed.
"Arrogant! What can you do alone!" After a breath of silence, a god-king, shamed and enraged, swung a colossal axe down at Sun Wukong.
"On this alone, I am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong!" she shouted.
The sky-piercing Ruyi Jingu Bang flew back into her hand, and she smashed it into the god-king.
Crack!
In an instant, the colossal axe that symbolised the god-king's merit shattered beneath the staff, and the god-king himself was blasted away like a meteor, his divinity crushed to pieces!
A god-king, one-shotted!
The sight left the heavens full of gods, buddhas, and immortals aghast.
"The Demon Lord is strong, don't go one by one! All together!" a powerful immortal bellowed.
His immortal resonance burst forth, and an immortal diagram unfurled from his hands.
Nor was he alone; the other immortals produced their proudest artefacts offensive, sealing, binding too many to count.
The gods unleashed their divinities and brandished divine armaments; buddhas flooded the sky with golden light and heaven-reaching mudras.
In an instant, the heavens were a storm of attacks.
Riku still had no intention of acting; he simply watched in silence.
"Such attacks are useless on me!" In Sun Wukong's pupils, the Six Ding Divine Fire flickered; with her Fiery Golden Eyes, she saw through the gaps among that dense barrage.
She snorted, soared aloft, and let her overwhelming divinity erupt. The staff in her hands swelled to titanic size; she swung it down at a single point.
At once, the combined barrage was smashed apart by brute force.
Of course, with so many attacks, a few divine armaments and artefacts still struck Sun Wukong, but the result was only a clatter of "ding-ding-dang-dang." The Diamond Body was not something they could break!
"Annoying gods and buddhas, this is the end for you!" In Sun Wukong's pupils, a world appeared; the Six Ding Divine Fire roared within it, and the boundary of the Eight Trigrams Furnace was re-created!
In an instant, all the gods and buddhas were enveloped within the boundary; the terrifying fire surged and burned them to ash in a heartbeat.
Even a god-king would not dare touch the Six Ding Divine Fire!
"Have you made enough of a racket?" A voice suffused with immortal resonance sounded then close at hand, and yet as if from the ends of the earth.
"Since you're here, spare us the mysterious posturing."
Riku tilted his head upward, narrowed his eyes, and spoke coldly.
"Heh-heh." What answered him was a soft chuckle.
From the farthest reaches of the sky, a rainbow-hued mist stretched forth in a single sweep, reaching this place.
Upon that mist walked an elderly man in white Daoist robes. No trace of divine aura clung to him, only pure, natural immortal resonance woven upon his person. Compared to this one, the immortal resonance of the earlier immortals wasn't even in the same league; the gap was heaven and earth!
"Taoism's founder Dao De Tianzun, one of the Three Pure Ones, the oldest of immortals," Riku said slowly, naming the elder.
Within [Taoism], Dao De Tianzun's standing could be compared to that of Shakyamuni, lord of the [Buddhist Order].
The strength of immortals isn't measured in "digits"; they fight primarily through their treasures. As the oldest of immortals, Dao De Tianzun's arsenal of powerful treasures would be innumerable; his might no weaker than Shakyamuni's!
"So it's you!" The instant she saw Dao De Tianzun, Sun Wukong's face twisted with fury, and her expression turned solemn as she set herself to battle.
She had not forgotten: it was Dao De Tianzun who had defeated her and cast her into the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
"You've gone and wrecked my treasure hall to this degree," Dao De Tianzun said, eyes turning cold as he looked upon the toppled furnace and the Six Ding Divine Fire spilling out of it, which had burned the hall to slag.
"Return." Dao De Tianzun crooked a finger, and the Six Ding Divine Fire, as if sentient, flowed back into the toppled Eight Trigrams Furnace. The furnace's lid sealed once more, then it reappeared at Dao De Tianzun's side and vanished from sight.
"Demon Lord Riku Dola, now it's time to deal with you. Subjugating Demon Lords may be the duty of gods and buddhas, but since you've made trouble in my halls, I cannot sit idly by," Dao De Tianzun said coldly.
"Deal with us, is it? Then let me see what an ancient immortal like you can actually do," Riku replied, lips quirking, utterly at ease.
"Bind!" Looking down at Riku, Dao De Tianzun lifted his palm; rosy clouds unfurled and split into two streaks of light that shot toward Riku and Sun Wukong.
Riku answered by driving a fist forward, blasting apart the streak aimed at him.
"Old Dao, you think I'll fall for the same trick twice!?" Sun Wukong glared; the Ruyi Jingu Bang swept out sideways with world-shattering might and smashed the other streak to pieces.
Struck, the light revealed its true form, rope-like, none other than the famed immortal artefact, the [Immortal-Binding Rope]. Like [Heaven's Chain], it is an anti-god treasure.
"Hmph. You think this thing can hold me? Dao De Tianzun, you're underestimating me," Riku said icily.
"Heh. Merely a probe," Dao De Tianzun murmured, eyes narrowed.
"Sun-chan, go reinforce the battlefield over there. Leave this old man to me. I intend to take a little something off him," Riku said lightly as he rose into the air, eyes on Dao De Tianzun and on the black treasure chest upon him.
"I see. Got it~" Sun Wukong blinked, then nodded and let her battle stance relax.
"Since you've come, Sun Wukong, don't think you can leave," Dao De Tianzun said languidly as he watched her preparing to depart.
At the same time, another streak of light formed in his grasp, and he hurled it at Sun Wukong, a binding-type immortal artefact! "I told you your opponent is me, old man!" Riku's face went hard; in a flash, he crossed hundreds of meters, appearing before Dao De Tianzun. A Super Blue aura flared skyward, interlacing upon his fist as he drove it in.
Crack!
The sudden burst of speed startled Dao De Tianzun; he hastily deployed a defensive immortal artefact.
Even so, Riku's anger-fueled punch blew the defence to pieces and sent Dao De Tianzun skidding back, his arm numb.
An immortal's combat power lies in treasures; at close quarters, they cannot compare to gods and buddhas.
"Old man, don't you dare try binding me again!" With Dao De Tianzun disrupted, Sun Wukong smashed the incoming artefact aside with her staff.
Such a tool might easily restrain a god-king or the former her, but before the Fiery Golden Eyes, all tricks are void!
Riku gave Dao De Tianzun no time to recover. Pressing the attack, he unleashed from his palm a blast so fierce it could obliterate a galactic cluster, and hurled it at the immortal.
Dao De Tianzun's face tightened; he summoned the Eight Trigrams Furnace to bar the way, and it met Riku's energy cannon head-on.
Boom!
In a heartbeat, Dao De Tianzun was swallowed by the torrent; sky and earth shook beneath the explosion's fury.
The next second, however, the terrible energy vanished as if drawn into a black hole, and Dao De Tianzun stood before Riku once more, the furnace's lid now gone.
"Oh? As expected of the Eight Trigrams Furnace, it can even absorb and refine my energy," Riku said, immediately grasping what had happened.
"But how about this strike?" His eyes narrowed; his voice went cold.
As he spoke, Riku thrust out his right hand, aiming at Dao De Tianzun.
[Pseudo Star Map — Third Kind of Star Particle Body]!
The one-hit-kill worldview of the [Pseudo Star Map] reappeared; a pillar of aurora speared toward the heavens and roared at Dao De Tianzun!
"Shit!" Dao De Tianzun understood in an instant what that aurora was. This time, he did not attempt to take it head-on; his expression changed, and he used a space-type immortal artefact to evade the beam.
The aurora pillar slammed into the depths of [Heaven], setting the entire realm to trembling as if it could not bear such might.
"The battle's barely begun, and you're using such a dangerous killing move, reckless!" Dao De Tianzun snapped.
"It's not my turf anyway," Riku said calmly.
At that, the corner of Dao De Tianzun's mouth twitched. He couldn't exactly argue.
"Looks like there's no problem here," Sun Wukong said in awe as she watched Riku. She'd long known the renown of this man who was both mentor and friend in Little Garden, but seeing it with her own eyes, he was brokenly strong.
Though she herself was powerful now, she had a hunch that if she truly fought Riku, she still wouldn't be his match.
Of course, she had no intention of fighting him to the death.
"I should link up with Karyō and the others," Sun Wukong murmured, preparing to leave.
"Sun Wukong submit to judgment," came another voice, just as Sun Wukong moved. A second immortal resonance, no weaker than Dao De Tianzun's, descended upon the region.
At the same time, an immortal diagram unfurled overhead, falling to suppress Sun Wukong!
"Another old Daoist? You think you can suppress me!?" Sun Wukong glared at the immortal diagram in the sky. With her divinity surging, the Ruyi Jingu Bang swelled and punched straight through the diagram!
"Her divinity has grown this much… troublesome." Rosy clouds reappeared as another figure descended, an elder bearing the same pure immortal aura as Dao De Tianzun.
One of the Three Pure Ones: Lingbao Tianzun! "Old Daoists today, I'm smashing the lot of you!" Sun Wukong shouted.
Without hesitation, she charged Lingbao Tianzun, launching the attack herself.
Lingbao Tianzun's face turned solemn; he met Sun Wukong head-on.
"So two of the Three Pure Ones are here. Looks like the last Yuanshi Tianzun isn't in [Taoism]," Riku said, glancing that way before addressing Dao De Tianzun.
As expected, assaulting [Heaven] wasn't going to be easy. [Taoism] and the [Buddhist Order] were entirely too vexing.
"Demon Lord, this is no place for you to make mischief," Dao De Tianzun said gravely. "If you surrender now, we can be lenient."
"Dao De Tianzun, you don't seem to understand what 'Demon Lord' means," Riku said coldly. "In that case, allow me to give you a lesson on what it means to be a Demon Lord!"
He vanished where he stood; at a speed that eclipsed starlight, he crashed in toward Dao De Tianzun and drove a fist forward just as the immortal was still reacting.
Clang!
Dao De Tianzun blocked with the Eight Trigrams Furnace. Even so, he was shaken back.
"Six Ding Divine Fire go!" His features tightened; he hastily worked the furnace, and the Six Ding Divine Fire gushed forth to engulf Riku, seeking to burn him to ash.
Riku neither dodged nor flinched; he met the flames head-on.
Phoenix fire surged about him, holding the Six Ding Divine Fire at bay.
"Phoenix Fire!" Dao De Tianzun's expression changed. Phoenix Fire was likewise one of the highest divine flames. With its ceaseless, undying nature, there were few it could not face; even the Six Ding Divine Fire could not do anything to Riku's current Phoenix Fire!
Boom!
Slipping through the flames, Riku flashed to Dao De Tianzun's back and hurled a sky-shattering punch.
Dao De Tianzun threw up defences, but his body-protecting treasure still shattered, and he was sent flying in pain, briefly twisting his face.
["Ding, congratulations, Master: black treasure chest opened…]
The system's prompt chimed in Riku's mind right then.
Riku ignored it and muted the system again.
In a duel of masters, there was no room for distraction.
"Hrah!" As Dao De Tianzun tumbled back, Riku thrust both hands forward in rapid succession. In an instant, a dense rain of energy blasts screamed toward the immortal.
Riku chose to fight Dao De Tianzun with pure power without relying on divine armaments.
Because, by the [Star of Omniscience and Omnipotence], Riku knew that among Dao De Tianzun's immortal tools there was one that hard-counters divine armaments:
The Vajra Bangle. In myth, it is a treasure acquired when Dao De Tianzun incarnated as Laozi.
It is also one of his strongest immortal tools, capable of changing form, impervious to water and fire, striking all things, and, most critically, snaring innumerable weapons.
With that thing around, using divine armaments against him would only see them seized by the Vajra Bangle, losing both the bride and the army.
To break the Vajra Bangle, one would need divine armaments of a higher rank, and such arms were vanishingly rare in all of Little Garden. A truly busted immortal tool.
Facing Riku's unabashed energy storm, Dao De Tianzun snorted and drew another immortal treasure.
A fan, the very immortal implement that made Ashura gods and buddhas blanch: the Bajiao Fan, which can summon gales and the fiercest yang flames. It, too, was one of Dao De Tianzun's strongest tools.
He swung the Bajiao Fan at the onrushing barrage.
In a heartbeat, heaven and earth seemed to flip. A gale laden with blazing yang qi howled forth, sweeping Riku's blasts aside, then rushed on to sear Riku himself. "Immortals really are a hassle, too many tools," Riku muttered, brows knitting.
Rumble!
Faced with the fan's assault, Riku's answer was equally simple. He pushed Super Blue to full output and swept a single arm, whipping up a counter-gale that held the Bajiao Fan's burning wind at bay.
Push pure power far enough, and it reaches the heavens.
"Hm!?" Dao De Tianzun was taken aback. His Bajiao Fan's strike had been checked so easily.
"Your power climbs still higher… Such strength, so pure, no wonder you could defeat the Twin Goddesses," he said, eyes shining as he stared at Riku.
"Dao De Tianzun, I'm on a bit of a clock. Would you mind exiting the stage?" Riku said mildly.
He flashed to the immortal's front and threw a punch wreathed in blue flame.
It was so fast that even Dao De Tianzun failed to react; his pupils only constricted violently as Riku's fist was about to land.