At the very moment Riku left, the demonic dragonia and white dragonia almost simultaneously unleashed their breaths.
In an instant, white dragonia breath and black demonic dragonia breath ripped through space and collided fiercely.
At that moment, both the demonic dragonia and the white dragonia were fighting for their lives.
Their breaths intertwined, clashing and grinding against each other, creating a core of black energy streaked with black lightning.
Within that black energy sphere, the power was unimaginable enough to destroy everything!
Under the influence of this power, the earth for millions of meters around shook violently, with cracks appearing everywhere. The closer you got, the more terrifying the phenomenon. Especially within a hundred thousand meters, it was like a magnitude-ten earthquake: the ground collapsed, deep chasms opened, mountains fell, boulders tumbled almost as if the earth's crust couldn't handle the pressure! Even space itself began to crack.
Finally, as if reaching a critical point, the black energy sphere exploded. In an instant, the terrifying blast swallowed up everything around, heaven and earth churning as the energy flood surged out, destroying anything in its path.
The white dragonia and the demonic dragonia were left with their fates unknown, disappearing into the heart of the blast.
Tens of thousands of meters away, Riku wasted no time he opened the Sixth Gate, the Gate of View, unleashing thousands of punches in the blink of an eye, smashing apart the heavens and the earth to block the oncoming shockwaves.
Even so, he couldn't stop it all, and some of the force still escaped.
At the crucial moment, Schwi stepped in, raising a barrier to block the remaining shockwaves. This, however, exposed her to Couronne and the other humans.
Everyone was struck with fear and awe, staring dumbly at Schwi. Only Couronne kept her cool she noticed that Schwi had no malice toward humans, and had just protected them.
"Um..." At that moment, Couronne's mind flashed with the image of Riku. Thinking for a moment, she decided she should probably greet Schwi.
.......
Elsewhere, once the energy flood subsided, Riku finally breathed a sigh of relief. He panted slightly, staring in silence at the bottomless, hellish crater before him.
This was what a battle between high-ranking races looked like utterly apocalyptic. For lower races, there was only one outcome: annihilation.
'Hopefully they're both seriously wounded. Maybe one of them will leave behind a corpse.'
Riku's eyes gleamed as he teleported to the center of the battlefield.
Suddenly, the scene became clear. In midair, two bloody, mangled dragons slowly fell from the sky.
The white dragonia no longer looked majestic many of its scales had been blasted off. The demonic dragonia was in even worse shape, its body covered in blood, even missing a chunk of its head.
Yet despite the explosion, neither dragonia had died; both were clinging to life, barely alive.
Seeing this, Riku's lips curled into a smile. Was fate smiling on him? He had hoped for a mutual defeat, but this was better than he'd expected.
"So, who should I finish off first?" Riku narrowed his eyes, staring at the white dragonia. Dragonia's regeneration was too overpowered he had to prioritize killing it, or it would recover in no time.
But deep down, he sensed danger.
Riku always trusted his instincts, so instead of getting greedy, he focused on the demonic dragonia.
"Seventh Gate—Shock Gate—Open!"
Having made his decision, Riku didn't hesitate; he opened the Seventh Gate, his whole body surging with blue flames, smashing through the air so fast he left no shadow.
In an instant, Riku crossed tens of thousands of meters, appearing right in front of the demonic dragonia's massive head and punched with all his might!
BOOM—!
SPLOOSH—!
In that instant, Riku's full-force punch shattered the demonic dragonia's head killing it completely.
The demonic dragonia's huge eyes glared at Riku with boundless hatred. Dying at the hands of a Dragonia would be understandable, but to be finished off by a human stealing the kill unacceptable!
"System, recycle!" Riku said without hesitation.
[Understood. Recycling demonic dragonia. Value: 50,000 exchange points.]
[Ding—recycling successful.]
"This time I really did get lucky." Hearing the system's prompt in his mind, Riku smiled in satisfaction.
"Unknown being, isn't it a bit arrogant to steal my spoils?" At that moment, a deep voice rang out, and Riku looked over.
On the other side, the now completely restored white dragonia was glaring at Riku, eyes cold.
"So you were faking it all along. If I'd carelessly approached, I probably wouldn't be dead, but I'd be crippled right now." Riku narrowed his eyes, answering obliquely.
"Heh, you really think I wouldn't be on guard if someone had been watching the battle all this time? You noticed, huh, that's a surprise. But I wasn't exactly faking it; those wounds were so severe that even I nearly died. Healing just took some extra time." The white dragon explained, looking somewhat surprised.
"Is that so? What a pity." Riku shook his head slightly.
There was something Zhuralis hadn't said aloud, if she really needed just a bit more time to recover, by the time Riku got close enough, it would have been easy to finish him off. As for why a powerful dragonia would bother playing tricks, it was probably because she'd noticed his spatial abilities early on.
"Heh, it is a pity. But before that, can you explain how you made that filthy creature disappear?" Zhuralis asked, her tone meaningful. "Is that also a type of spatial ability?"
"Let's just say it is." Riku replied casually. There was no way he could explain the system's recycling power.
Still, since the giant lizard before him wasn't attacking yet, there was no need to provoke a fight. The most important thing now was to buy time.
"What a strange guy. My name is Zhuralis Kontukuta. You can call me Zhuralis. And what about your name and race?" The white dragonia stared at Riku, curiosity in her eyes.
"Zhuralis… My name is Riku Dola. Call me however you want. As for my race, I'm Immanity—human." Riku answered steadily.
"Riku… Human? Are you kidding me? How can a human be this strong? Even if your aura isn't on my level, it's far beyond anything a lower race could reach." Zhuralis was stunned, her voice full of disbelief.
Humans are the weakest beings in this world, beneath notice from any other race. They can't survive as individuals, only as a group. With barely any spirit energy in their bodies, they have no real power.
And yet, here was someone claiming to be human, showing this kind of strength, it shattered everything she thought she knew.
"Are you really one of those 'weak' humans?" Zhuralis asked, as if trying to confirm. But actually, she was already mostly convinced. The body's features matched, and there was no reason to lie.
"What do you think?" Riku replied calmly.
"Heh, interesting. In that case, fight me. I want to see just how strong a human like you can be and how you got so powerful." Zhuralis's eyes flashed gold, full of curiosity and fighting spirit.
"You dragonia are really a warlike race. Well, if you want to fight, I'll play along. But I pick the place." Riku narrowed his eyes, keeping his cool.
Rather than letting this walking disaster cause havoc here, it was better to try and solve the problem elsewhere.
"Heh, fine by me." Zhuralis agreed immediately, without any hesitation.
Without wasting another moment, Riku's body flashed as he shot through the air like a meteor, blasting the air beneath his feet as he sped far into the distance.
Watching Riku's astonishing speed, Zhuralis's interest only grew. Breaking the limits of physical ability, something only the strongest werebeasts could do, Riku surpassed even them by many times over.
Before this, Zhuralis had thought Riku was flying; now she saw he was running on air.
"System, exchange for a superior chest."
As he sped along, Riku spoke in his mind. After recycling the demonic dragonia's corpse and earning 50,000 exchange points, he now had 60,000 total. Time to open a new chest.
[Ding. Superior chest successfully exchanged.]
The system's voice sounded in Riku's mind.
At once, a purple-glowing treasure chest appeared before Riku. Even while moving at high speed, it stayed right in front of him.
With anticipation, Riku reached out and tapped the superior chest to open it.
[Ding. Congratulations for opening a superior chest and obtaining: Zanpakutō Soul.]
Zanpakutō Soul: Instantly evolves a Zanpakutō, unlocking Shikai and Bankai. The abilities gained depend on the user's luck.
"Zanpakutō Soul? As expected from a superior chest, what it gives is almost like a personal exclusive."
Riku's eyes lit up at the voice in his mind.
He already owned a basic Asauchi (unawakened Zanpakutō), but learning to communicate with it, then unlock Shikai and Bankai, was too much of a hassle. That's why he'd kept it in his storage space until now.
But with this, if he gained a powerful ability, it'd be a huge asset. Abilities from Bleach aren't weak at all. Maybe it wouldn't be enough against a god of war, but if luck was on his side and he got something strong, fighting a dragonia would be much easier.
"Use Zanpakutō Soul."
Riku took his Zanpakutō from storage and held it in his hand, then told the system what to do. With such a good start, he saw no need to keep spending his points on more chests for now.
[Understood.]
The system responded without delay.
"Hey, human, how much farther do you plan to run?!"
Seeing that Riku was still silent and racing farther away, already having travelled hundreds of thousands of meters, Zhuralis shouted, annoyed.
"Heh, since you're in such a hurry, let's fight here."
Riku suddenly stopped, turning to face the white dragonia with interest in his eyes.
Up next, it's time to bully a dragonia!