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"Team up?" Hearing Riku's words, Hatsuse Fia's pupils flickered, her expression gradually grew serious. After a pause, she asked slowly, "Are you serious?"
"Do you think I'd joke about something like this?" Riku answered just as seriously.
"You don't have enough power right now for me to risk my entire race." Hatsuse Fia sighed.
The orcs' backing—the gods who created them—were all dead. Their divine spirits were devoured by the war god Arthius. It was impossible not to hate that.
But what use is hatred? With their support gone, the orcs were like lost dogs, running wild everywhere, only slightly better off than humans.
And the forest spirits were in a similar situation. The strongest were still the top six ranked races, and below them, the mech-armored race was doing somewhat better.
That was based on their terrifying record—slaying the dragon spirits, who were almost god-level, including one of the three Dragon Kings, Yanlong, also known as Yalon Reif!
That feat forced other races to establish a rule: never provoke the mech-armored race.
"Enough power, huh? If you want proof, I'll show you some." Riku said slowly. "Hatsuse Fia, let's settle this with the next move."
"Heh, I was thinking the same." Hearing this, Hatsuse Fia smiled back and immediately went into battle mode. Her hair grew blood red, and a terrifying aura surged up again.
The ground beneath them cracked and collapsed under the pressure.
"Seventh Gate — Gate of Shock, open!" Riku shouted, enduring the strain.
The Gate of Shock was the last gate before the Death Gate. The power it unleashed was terrifying. Riku's body started releasing blue steam from evaporating sweat, and even though he hadn't fully unleashed his power yet, the air itself began to tremble.
"—!" Hatsuse Fia's pupils shrank seeing Riku like this. She knew she couldn't wait any longer and launched her attack. Like a ghost, she vanished from sight and used all her strength to throw a punch filled with all her energy and spirit straight at Riku.
"Crash—!" But before her fist even reached him, it stopped a few decimeters away. Her hair stood on end, her face twisted with uncontrollable shock—and even fear.
In her vision, Riku's fist suddenly grew huge, and a deadly shadow filled her heart.
If that punch hit, she'd be dead for sure—her head would explode like a watermelon. But dodging was impossible—the speed of that punch was beyond her limit!
"Boom—!" But in the end, Riku changed direction, and the punch smashed past right next to her cheek.
In an instant, a blue energy burst out, destroying everything ahead. Terrible chasms were torn apart by the invisible force, spreading out so far it was impossible to see the edges. Several big mountains that stood in the punch's path were blasted to pieces, rocks flying everywhere.
The storm clouds scattered with the shockwave, leaving a clear sky stretching for miles. Anything standing in the way was mercilessly destroyed.
"I lost..." Feeling the burning blue aura just inches from her face, Hatsuse Fia slumped back to her original state, giving a bitter smile.
"Phew, that was exhausting." Hearing this, Riku also relaxed, casually sitting on the broken ground, letting the painful numbness in his body settle. He grimaced slightly.
The side effects of the Seventh Gate were huge. The Emperor Kaihuang became paralyzed for a whole day after using it. But Riku's body was stronger, so he didn't suffer that badly, though he still felt sore all over.
"Did you just go all out?" Hatsuse Fia looked at Riku sitting on the ground, amazed.
That blue flame power Riku showed totally outclassed her. Honestly, even an average Celestial Winged would be no match.
But even with power stronger than the Celestial Winged, challenging a god-level race, or the strongest war god Arthius himself, was still just a fantasy.
"Nope, not even close. The cost of going full blast is huge. I only use it if absolutely necessary, and right now, I don't need to." Riku shrugged casually.
"You've got more tricks up your sleeve?" Hatsuse Fia was stunned, a small bitter smile on her face. "I guess I didn't lose unfairly."
"Then let me ask you something else. I want to know how long it took you to get this strong." Hatsuse Fia asked seriously.
"Less than a year." Riku thought a bit and gave a rough estimate. Saying less than a month would be terrifying.
"I see. You really do have infinite potential." Hatsuse Fia's delicate face showed full shock, and she finally exclaimed, "In that case, I'll go crazy with you and try to end this mad divine war game."
"Heh, then here's to a great partnership." Riku smiled slightly and extended his hand to the young girl before him.
"Yeah." Hatsuse Fia also reached out her soft hand and clasped his, showing a genuine smile. "Looking forward to working with you."
"....."