"You suddenly seem very confident. Is it because of that sword in your hand?" Zhuralis stared at the Zanpakutō in Riku's hand, which was glowing with a blue light, her voice full of suspicion.
"Who knows." Riku replied indifferently. People who casually reveal their trump cards are either idiots or egomaniacs. He was neither.
"Here I come." Riku's eyes flashed, and he moved.
BOOM—!
In the next instant, Riku vanished from his spot, the air where he'd been now shattered, booming like thunder.
Zhuralis wasn't panicked by Riku's sudden attack she was surprised, though, because Riku was now moving twice as fast as before. Clearly, he'd been hiding his strength.
Caught off guard, Zhuralis could only swing her dragonia claws to try to block Riku.
But being small has its advantages he was agile.
Riku easily dodged the claws, even stepping on one to leap up toward Zhuralis's abdomen, where he landed a full-force punch!
BAM—!
In that instant, the air exploded and Riku's fist slammed directly into Zhuralis's stomach. With a huge crash, Zhuralis was sent flying, a massive fist imprint appearing on her belly, her dragonia scales shattered.
Her whole body was blasted into the sky.
"RAAAWR—!"
Reeling from the blow, Zhuralis howled in pain. She'd known Riku was strong, but hadn't expected his speed and strength to reach this level. With just raw physical power, he could rival a Flügel.
Caught off guard, she took a big loss!
"HIRUDORA!!!"
And that wasn't the end. After the first hit, Riku wasn't about to let Zhuralis go his veins bulged, pale blue energy flames gathering as he swung his arm.
In a flash, the blue energy formed a massive, roaring tiger, blazing across the sky toward Zhuralis.
This was the ultimate move of the Seventh Gate, the Gate of Shock!
"Don't underestimate me, human!"
Even though Riku's punch had hurt her badly, Zhuralis quickly stabilized herself in the air, roaring.
"BOOM—!"
In the next moment, terrifying energy gathered in her jaws and shot out. It was the dragonia's breath!
Tiger and breath collided dragonia versus tiger, clashing with overwhelming power.
Both forces canceled each other out, exploding in a blast that destroyed the surrounding mountains and forests. Many demonia nearby were killed by the shockwave. Even distant rivers were rocked by gigantic waves, as if the world itself were ending.
"Where is he?"
As the explosion faded, Zhuralis healed her wounds and scanned the area, but couldn't spot Riku anywhere. She grew anxious.
"Where are you looking, big lizard?"
Suddenly, Riku's voice rang out from above her head, startling her.
CRACK—!
Just as Zhuralis reacted, Riku swung down, kicking her on the head and making her dizzy. Her giant body crashed toward the ground like a meteor.
"Bastard!"
As she plummeted, Zhuralis looked up at Riku standing in the air and was consumed by rage. Being ridden on the head it was humiliating.
So, as she fell, Zhuralis didn't care about her descent. Instead, she opened her jaws, gathered energy, and unleashed a dragonia breath straight at Riku, engulfing him in a terrifying explosion that turned the sky crimson.
"Did I get him?"
Watching Riku disappear in the blast, Zhuralis was momentarily stunned. It felt unreal to defeat him so easily.
"This isn't good!!"
Suddenly, Zhuralis's dragonia eyes shrank she'd sensed something.
But it was too late. Riku had already reappeared, a bit above her, and landed another brutal kick to her head.
BOOM—!
With a deep thud, Zhuralis's head caved in again, her huge body crashing to the earth like a meteor.
The ground trembled violently, fissures spreading in all directions, a massive crater forming around her enormous body, the shockwave devastating an area for hundreds of thousands of meters.
"RAAAWR—!"
A second later, Zhuralis roared furiously, flying up from the pit, covered in dust and looking utterly dishevelled.
Soaring in the air, a flash of light ran over her body as her wounds miraculously vanished, returning her to her peak, even her aura was fully restored.
Yet even with her body healed, Zhuralis's rage was unquenched. She stared at Riku, killing intent blazing.
Having her head kicked twice, this kind of humiliation was unbearable.
"What is this ability? I could swear I hit you!" Zhuralis finally calmed herself and asked coldly.
Not only had he taken her breath attack head-on without injury, but he'd appeared by her side with no hint of spatial fluctuation; it was just too strange!
"As for that…" Riku watched the somewhat bewildered Zhuralis, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"Why don't you guess?" He paused, waiting for Zhuralis to perk up her ears, then replied with a sly smile.
"——!"
Zhuralis's expression froze for a moment. The sight of a massive white dragonia with a blank stare was so comical that Riku almost burst out laughing.
"You… You're toying with me!"
But while Riku was enjoying himself, Zhuralis's anger skyrocketed!
In an instant, Zhuralis roared, shaking the entire space around them.
"ROAR!!"
In the next moment, Zhuralis suddenly spoke in a language Riku didn't understand. This was an incredibly terrifying Word of Power, the language of the dragonia.
"Explode."
If a dragonia uttered, "Die," the target would die. This was the command of the superior over the inferior!
The language of the dragonia was also known as the Language of Creation, the Universal Language, or the Decree of Kings.
No being in the world could resist a self-destruct command like this.
Even the Flügel, created specifically as weapons of war and feared by all races, would die instantly if they faced a dragonia's "word" head-on.
As Zhuralis spoke, everything in her line of sight exploded, rocks flew, dust filled the sky, and even Riku's body seemed to blow apart, as if he couldn't withstand the Word of Power!
"Hmph, that's the price of defying me."
Seeing Riku cut down by her attack, Zhuralis's anger subsided a little, and she snorted coldly.
"Hey, where are you looking, big lizard?"
But the very next second, a mocking voice rang out again, and Zhuralis's expression froze.
Her huge dragonia eyes looked forward, and somehow, Riku had appeared there, seemingly completely unharmed.
"Why!? Why aren't you dead!?"
Seeing this bizarre scene, Zhuralis was completely baffled, countless questions swirling in her mind.
"Heh, are you out of tricks already?"
Seeing Zhuralis questioning her very existence, Riku replied coldly.
The weak seek wisdom, the strong hone their claws. In this world, the powerful always prefer to crush their enemies with overwhelming force rather than clever tactics.
Faced with Riku's ability, unless one had absolute strength, they could only be toyed with.
"Don't underestimate me, human!"
Upon hearing that, Zhuralis went berserk.
Being toyed with from start to finish, the feeling was enough to make her vomit blood in frustration.
"ROAR——!"
In the next instant, Zhuralis gathered all her aura and power to the limit, channelling terrifying energy into her mouth.
Then she unleashed her strongest breath attack directly at the ground.
In an instant, an indiscriminate energy explosion swept across hundreds of thousands of meters, engulfing everything and turning the landscape into a scene just like the one from her previous battle with the demonic dragonia.
But this time, Zhuralis was using a massive area attack, trying to kill Riku. What she didn't notice was the slight, sly smile on Riku's lips at the exact moment she released her ultimate breath.
BOOM—!
Giant mushroom clouds rose, scorched marks and fissures spread, and the land was once again completely reshaped. After it was all over, Zhuralis hovered in the sky, panting slightly, scanning the area for any sign of Riku.
And when she saw Riku again, completely unharmed, her whole body began to tremble. Out of sheer rage. For the first time, she truly experienced what it was to be this agitated.
Not even that tireless, endlessly challenging, and utterly idiotic Flügel ever made her this angry.
"You, I don't want to fight you anymore. I can't kill you, you can't kill me, let's just call it even. I figure you can't keep this up forever, right? But I have unlimited energy and undying existence."
In the end, Zhuralis chose to compromise, her voice full of helplessness.
"Maybe I have limits, but you're not really unlimited either, are you? Drop the dragonia tricks. After watching and fighting you for this long, I've figured out the secret of the dragonia."
Riku's voice was cold and calm.
"——!"
Hearing that, Zhuralis's dragonia eyes narrowed, gazing at Riku in shock and suspicion.
"The reason your dragonia race is so strong is because you possess the ability to span multiple timelines." Riku stared right at Zhuralis, calmly stating the dragonia secret unknown to the other races.
A single Flügel can't defeat a dragonia alone.
If the Flügel's ultimate attack is a 10, each dragonia scale is a 5. But a dragonia has billions of scales, all overlapping.
Yet when multiple Flügel team up, they can take down a dragonia with minimal casualties.
It's a contradiction. If dragonia truly had that much power, it wouldn't matter how many Flügel or even gods they fought; they'd win. Add in their bizarre ability to heal instantly, and Riku had finally worked out the hidden ability of the dragonia.