—Spectacular.
A fitting word, but not on so grand a scale as the fight truly was.
——Amazing.
Simply unable to fully capture the feelings shown, the strikes and impacts resounding in the air.
———Overwhelming.
The most apt word, no doubt.
…
Overwhelming, the fight was simply overwhelming to watch. As the four danced through the air, strikes entwined and collided against each other, Nina was left to watch it all.
A heap of iron was being wielded as if a dagger, sent swinging with such force that the impact did not cleave, but rather was blunt. Sending a light body through the air, only for that far-off body to slow down, it was extraordinary to see.
Riley zoomed at over nine-hundred miles an hour, breaking the sound barrier and appearing right next to the Grand Butcher, Jack Hayfield. With [Hanging] wrapping around his elbow, he used the rope's extreme speed, twisting his body in mid-air.
[Hanging] X [Falling], the combination of those two led to an absurdly powerful strike.
His body was spun around by [Hanging] by the noose around his elbow. [Falling] was used to amplify the downwards momentum—but that was not the movement's end. It moved upwards, carrying that raw energy as his body spun around several times in a white blur, before the downwards elbow was finally unleashed upon Jack's neck.
The spinal cord stood no chance. Eviscerated, torn, maimed and ripped to smithereens, the spinning elbow delivered to the back of his neck nearly fully beheaded him with its extreme strength.
"..."
Upon seeing the culmination of Riley's efforts, his mastery over his ability having skyrocketed from the countless battles, the very giver of his powers, the Forgotten King, was left speechless and uneasy.
"...New rule for [Falling]; it can't be used for more than one second at a time."
An impromptu change was made to Riley's ability that very moment, announced to the teenager.
The Forgotten King could not think of any other way to stop Riley without feeling like he had become too involved in the conflicts he considered "beneath him," thus setting that rule in stone.
To prevent Riley from spinning rapidly, using the downwards movement to increase speed but moving it upwards, which therefore collected even further speed as it went downwards once more, repeating that process until he gathered such speed that every strike would be an instant kill, Ghira had to step in and put a stop to it.
"Though…" Riley began, using [Hanging] to keep hold over the corpse, placing it on the rooftop as he himself descended upon the ground. The other servants leapt off, landing on the street below with fear in their hearts, having just seen one of their members taken out just thirty seconds after the battle began.
"—It's not like I needed that to beat these two," he finished.
The air went cold, as horror washed over the remaining two. There was no mistaking it, just how vast the gap between Riley and them was.
In the end, it was a matter of skill and strength. These servants had never considered fighting, only murdering. This led to them growing stagnant and weak, never pushing for anything more. And thus, they were weak. No skills, and thus were unable to take advantage of their ability's potential.
"Sh-shit…" one of them whimpered, taking a step back. The fear coursing through his veins was overwhelming. Shaking, his legs shook. His heart raced. His skin stiffened and he couldn't avoid clenching his teeth and gripping his hatchet for protection.
Over the past years, he had been the predator who hunted human beings that couldn't fight back. The role reversal was such that it made him lose confidence in himself and his abilities.
"Don't lose heart. Amuse me. Keep fighting, or I'll kill you myself."
The words of Ghira delivered to the servants, they gathered their courage and united. They kicked off the ground at the same time, but not towards Riley. Rather,
"You…!"
Bursting towards them in an explosion of speed, Riley tackled one of them directly through a brick wall, smashing it open. Having aimed to maim civilians, they had instantly formulated a plan.
With servants getting stronger with each person they killed, it was no shock that in order to breach the gap in skill and strength, they had chosen to kill for increased power.
Riley, on top of the chainsaw-wielding servant, raised his elbow into the air.
"Wai—"
Unwilling to listen, Riley used [Falling] on his elbow. Slamming down the small piece of bone, concentrating all of his force into that tiny area, it struck like a bullet, caving in his forehead and nearly killing him.
Riley got to his feet, turning back around and seeing the other servant.
The servant had attacked a family, easily chopping the father's arm off at the elbow. But, upon hearing the fatal blow delivered to his partner, he stopped.
Slowly, he turned his gaze, seeing Riley's visage.
Stuck, lost in a sea of his own fear, the hatchet-wielder's legs trembled far too greatly. He collapsed to the ground, having heard the violent thump and subsequent snapping of bone and flesh. Frantic, shaking, trembling, his breath was overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed, it was simply overwhelmed. No mistake. Fear, fear, fear had overpowered him. Fear of death, fear of humiliation. Fear, plain fear. Terror, horror, anxiety, a swirling mess of death and blood and violence. Violence surely, surely was to be inflicted. Monster, what he held before him within his gaze and sights and training his vision upon the monster, it was a monster, a monster a monster.
—Riley stepped out of the house slowly, his elbow covered in brain matter and blood.
Fear. There was fear. Nothing but fear. Overpowering fear. Swallowing fear. Overcoming fear. Exorbitant fear. Strangling fear. A fear. Fear itself.
His legs, did not stop shaking. His heart thudded in his chest, his heartbeat rang in his ears, his vision blurred, only focusing on the presence before him. Heavy, fast breaths. His lungs inflated and deflated too fast, his head felt light, as if falling. Falling, he was falling.
"W-wha… w-wha… aa-ahh, ahhhh…"
His trembling throat, his throat which did not work, his vocal cords were paralyzed, unable to perceive anything but his own fear.
"M-m… MONSTER!"
Crawling backwards, his hand reached out. Just one finger, a finger pointed towards that great beast before him.
No mistake. No doubt. Utterly certain.
"MONSTER, YOU HAVE TO BE A MONSTER!!"
Even if he was removed from the world. Even if his heart was crushed, his brain impaled, his soul ripped from his body—there was something he absolutely would never forget.
"You, Riley Woods… are a monster!"
Someone who wielded such strength. Someone who could end lives with a single blow. Someone who had taken up the mantle of the Enemy of the World. Someone who did not back down from fighting against the many servants called to be the apex predators who hunted the very top of the food chain. Someone who was overpowering in the truest sense.
Someone like that, could not be considered a human being.
"...I've got nothing to say to that," Riley admitted. He did not summon [Bleeding], or [Hanging], nor did he use [Falling] or [Drowning] or [Crashing].
"—You are Ghira's loyal subjects, right? Then let's have a contest. No abilities. Not even focusing purely on strength, either. Skill. Let's have a contest of skill."
Mounting his opponent, Riley willingly entered the man's guard, as the servant wrapped his legs around him. From this position, which was a neutral one in BJJ, Riley did not fight with just grappling.
Balling up his fists, Riley raised his arm and punched the man in the head. But, since he wasn't completely on top of him, his arm had to travel extra far, nulling its power.
"Then I'll pass guard."
Grabbing his opponent's knee and pinning it to the floor, Riley moved his leg over. Stapling it to the ground with his leg, Riley used the servant's lack of grappling knowledge to easily enter side control. From which, he was able to get into mount, sitting on his opponent's torso.
Looking down on his opponent, Riley scoffed.
"You servants don't know anything, do you? I'm a complete beginner. I fight against guys without my powers, I get my ass kicked. I get choked, I get put in arm locks, I get knocked over and I tap and I tap and I tap."
Raising his fist, Riley plunged his knuckles into his opponent's nose. The impact caved the tender flesh in on itself, forcing blood to come out.
"But you guys? You think you're all that, just because you got lucky. Because you were chosen."
Another punch was delivered to the same area. Abandoning all of his abilities, Riley used his raw strength and ability to control positions in order to wail on his opponent.
More blood was spilled.
"You don't know what it's like to work for anything. I don't either. I have a good family, and a loving friend. But you prance around, all cocky because you can kill people and get away with it. Not anymore."
An elbow was jammed into the flesh, further demolishing the nasal area and making it hard to breathe. Riley, atop his opponent, looked down, his eyes obscured by his childish visor. Yet, still, there was blood.
Hearing the servant's fearful breaths pouring in and out of his throat through his mouth, Riley got closer.
"Human beings, you discard their lives like they're trash, like they mean nothing. You kill because you enjoy it. You revel in it. But they're the ones who have more skill, more meaning, and more love than any of you. They love. They get hurt. They hate. They bully. They mock. They comfort. They lust. They hurt others. —But that's being human. They develop skills, hobbies, relationships. And you…"
Violently pressing his forearm against the servant's throat, he looked him dead in the eyes, lifting his visor up and meeting his gaze.
"You just throw it all away, for your own amusement. You kill without a second thought. You don't see the value in humanity. Only your own joy and pleasure."
Pressing deeper. Deeper, pinning his Adam's Apple to the floor, as if trying to crush the throat with his raw force.
"But that's wrong. And I won't sit back and let it happen. I won't let you hurt humanity anymore. Because their lives do mean something, because their lives are valuable, because… because they're human, I won't let that happen."
His opponent didn't know what to do. Not having the technical skill to overcome Riley's incredibly basic knowledge, the servant was helpless. Strangled, his throat compressed, he could not breathe. Neither through his nose nor through his mouth.
His face, it burned. Burned, turning red.
He was being beaten by the skills developed by humanity. The prey had developed skills which the hunter then used against other hunters. He was being defeated, not by Ghira's supernatural gifts, but by humanity's skill.
"—So that's where you're wrong. I'm not a monster. The reason I'm beating you is because I'm human."
Whispering those words to the final embers of his life, Riley watched the man's face go blank, his body limp.
Riley climbed to his feet, summoning [Shooting] and aiming the barrel onto the man's skull. To which, he glanced over, seeing the presence of many children.
It'd be troublesome to startle them. I'll have him taken care of elsewhere.
[Hanging] wrapped around the man's neck, and took him to a rooftop. Summoning [Bleeding], he tossed it into the air for the noose to grab onto, before finishing the job away from the children.
Hearing pained yelling, and the sound of young sobbing, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Looking at the injured father, Riley's body forced him to move. "Call an ambulance!! Wait, shit! Hold on, sir, please, hold on!"
Summoning two of [Hanging], he flew the man up into the air and sent him towards the nearest hospital, removing the wait-time for an ambulance and getting him over as fast as possible. As he looked up into the sky, trying to ensure the man's safety, he heard a crying little girl.
Quickly turning his helmet, Riley looked at the child. She was small, dressed up as Elsa. Sobbing, she sat on the curb, inconsolable. To which, Riley ran over as fast as he could, reaching her.
"H-hey, hey heyhey, you're alright, okay? Shh, shhh, you're okay, you're okay. Your dad's going to be okay—trust me, he's in the hospital, but he'll be okay. He'll be okay."
She continued to sob, before looking up at him. Before her, there was a man. A man in a fuzzy, white unicorn helmet.
"Kgh, hk, a-aah… ah…"
Slowing her weeping, the girl looked at the hero dumbfounded. The hero took off his cape—it was not a cape. Rather, a fuzzy, white blanket. Gently, he wrapped it around her body. Ensuring her warmth, and promising her safety, Riley kept her warm on the cold Halloween night.
"You're okay. It's okay to cry. But, as you cry, I want you to know your dad—he's going to be okay. You're safe, and he's going to be alright. Just, um, please… please, know that."
The girl's tears streamed down her face. Yet, they slowed. Her breathing, slowly but surely, became more stable. Her small hands grabbed the blanket, gripping it gently.
After waiting for some time, after seeing everyone's gaze upon him, he slowly stood up. Looking down at the little girl, he gave a gentle wave.
"You can keep the cape. I hope… um, I hope it provides you comfort. If you're ever scared, or hurt, or worried, or… or anything. The blanket will keep you warm, and safe."
Needing to change out of his costume, Riley wrapped [Hanging] around his torso, and thus took off into the air.
Flying, ascending, he soared to the clouds and looked down at the city below. Gently. A small smile curved across his cheeks.
…I love all of you.
"I'll help as best as I can."
Promising his loyalty, his love for humanity, Riley loomed over the world.