"Seventh Gate—Gate of Shock, open!" Ignoring the black dragon above, Riku activated the Seventh Gate, blue flames enveloping his body as his aura erupted to its peak.
Boom—!
The next instant, Riku vanished and appeared right beneath the black dragon, slamming a punch into its belly.
Crack—!
With a thunderous sound, the black dragon's stomach caved in, its scales shattered, and it was sent hurtling into the sky like a cannonball.
"Graaagh!!" The black dragon's enraged roar turned into a howl of pain, the force of that blow clearly not insignificant.
But Riku had no intention of letting up. Stepping through the air, he shot higher, rapidly ascending into the sky.
"Damn monkey, die!" Finally regaining his posture, the black dragon Varde roared in fury and activated a Word of Power unique to the dragonia.
Instantly, Riku's body shattered into pieces, blood spraying everywhere.
"Hmph, that's the price for crossing me." Varde sneered.
"Oh, you arrogant lizard, you can still fly?" But in the next instant, Riku appeared before Varde's chin, delivering an uppercut that shattered everything in front of him, sending Varde flying and spewing blood.
What followed was a one-sided massacre in the sky, with Varde being battered around like a ball, he couldn't even land a hit on Riku.
"Master was hiding a lot of his power in our last fight, huh," Jibril remarked with admiration as she watched.
Schwi's eyes flashed with a strange look.
Far away, Zhuralis watched the fight high in the sky and shook her head helplessly. She had already warned these dragons not to provoke Riku, and yet they'd come looking for trouble.
"Still, his power has grown even more compared to a week ago," Zhuralis murmured, her eyes fixed on Riku, utterly dominating Varde. "A week ago, he needed to go all out to hurt me. Now, without even using his trump cards, he's thrashing a dragon who's barely weaker than I am. That's just insane."
"Zhuralis, is that the human you mentioned? He really is strong…" Several white dragons flew over, watching the scene in shock.
They'd doubted Zhuralis' claims that she'd been defeated by a human. Now, there was no doubt left.
"Yeah." Zhuralis nodded with a complicated expression.
"Shouldn't we break up the fight?" one of the white dragons asked hesitantly.
"It's Varde's own fault, let him get beaten for a while," Zhuralis replied flatly.
"Actually, I'm more worried that other dragons will get involved. Ever since Aranleif fell, they've been extremely united. They do everything together, even travel in groups," another white dragon commented.
"We'll see what happens. If it gets out of hand, we'll intervene. They're all opposed to joining the alliance anyway, a good beating from Riku might do them good. The Wise Dragon hasn't returned yet, so it's not their place to cause trouble."
"True." The white dragons nodded and continued watching.
"Damn human!" On the other side, the black dragon named Varde, utterly beaten, became even more furious. He gathered a massive amount of energy in his maw and unleashed a breath attack at Riku.
"Getting angry only makes you pathetic," Riku taunted, raising his zanpakutō before him as the five-meter-wide breath blast barreled toward him.
In an instant, the dragon's breath vanished, absorbed into the blade, which shone with a faint light.
"What?!" Varde's eyes shrank with shock as he saw his breath attack absorbed.
"Stupid dragon, take it back!" Riku pointed his zanpakutō at the black dragon, speaking coldly. "Bloom, Hanamaru."
Boom—!
The tip of the zanpakutō glowed, and a blazing pillar of light erupted, striking the stunned Varde.
Dragon breath exploded, the sky was shrouded in a blinding blast, and the shockwave forced Schwi and Jibril to defend themselves below.
Even so, neither of them looked away.
"So he can absorb energy and fire it back. That sword is something else," one white dragon said in surprise.
"Just keep watching. Riku's true speciality is playing his opponents to death. His combat instincts are terrifying," Zhuralis commented, her gaze full of caution.
During her own fight with Riku, she had been toyed with and thoroughly outmanoeuvred, unable to even scratch him. That was then, now he was even stronger.
After a few seconds, the explosion faded. Varde, his scales shattered and bleeding all over, was revealed to all, looking utterly miserable.
In agony, Varde tried to recover, preparing to manipulate time to heal, but suddenly, Riku appeared before his face, making his pupils contract in terror.
"Trying to recover with time manipulation? How naïve." Riku sneered coldly, kicking Varde square in the head.
Boom—!
With a dull thud, Varde was sent flying like a meteor, smashing into a distant mountain and embedding himself in the stone, blood pouring from his wounds, his aura weakening.
"How can a mere human be so strong…!" Varde's mind reeled, terror overtaking him. For the first time, he felt the shadow of death looming over him.
He might really die!
Just as Riku was about to finish Varde off for good, a fierce wind whipped up, and three massive black dragons swooped in, surrounding Riku in the sky, their eyes filled with murderous intent.
"Hmph, what's this? Can't win one-on-one, so now you gang up on me?" Surrounded by three dragonia, Riku remained indifferent, his expression mocking.
"Human, you're strong, but if you attack one of our kin, you must be destroyed," one of the black dragons said gravely.
"To create such chaos on our territory, you must die if we are to maintain our pride," another added.
The last one said nothing, simply glaring daggers at Riku.
"Hahaha, what a joke. You once looked down on humans, and now you resort to ganging up on one, yet you still talk about pride? And you're the ones who started this fight!" Riku couldn't help but laugh, full of ridicule.
"Hmph, right and wrong are meaningless now." Taking this opportunity, Varde quickly manipulated time to heal his wounds and recover his strength, flying back into the sky with a furious look. Four dragonia ganging up on a single human, truly humiliating. But just letting it go wasn't an option either. Now they were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"Yeah, right and wrong don't matter anymore. All I have to do now is knock you overgrown lizards flat!" Riku laughed wildly, his grin arrogant.
"Roar! Human, don't get cocky!" Varde's words instantly reignited the fight as he led the attack, his dragon claws swiping at Riku. The other three black dragons also launched their own attacks, some using Words of Power, others unleashing their dragon breath.
Boom—!
But all these attacks missed, exploding through empty air, their impacts booming through the sky.
"I knew it would come to this. Shouldn't we step in?" One of the observing white dragons felt uncomfortable. Four dragonia beating up one person was shameful.
"No need. Let's just watch. It's not clear who'll win, honestly, Riku might even have the upper hand." Zhuralis kept her eyes on the battlefield, speaking in a low voice. She remembered Riku's illusion-type ability; it probably wasn't so simple.
"Oh? Now I'm really curious," the other white dragons said, watching with growing interest.
In the next instant, their eyes went wide, unmistakable shock on their faces. Varde's dragon breath, which should have struck Riku, instead hit one of the other black dragons Riku had somehow turned into one of them! The attack landed squarely on his ally.
"Varde, what are you doing?!" The black dragon, who was hit, roared in fury. Varde had inexplicably attacked him, which infuriated him further; they were supposed to be getting revenge for him!
"I don't understand, I clearly aimed at that human!" Varde was dumbfounded as he saw his bleeding companion.
"Heh, how amusing. Are you suddenly fighting amongst yourselves?" Riku appeared nearby, zanpakutō in hand, smirking playfully.
Against Kyōka Suigetsu, numbers didn't matter; in fact, the more enemies, the more ways there were to toy with them! Just like Aizen, fighting so many enemies at once and turning them against each other without them even realising it.
"Human, shut up!" The injured black dragon, driven to rage, blasted another dragon breath straight at Riku.
Fsssh—!
Riku was engulfed by the breath.
But a moment later, Riku reappeared as yet another black dragon, and a powerful breath attack shot right through the real body of that dragon, blood spraying everywhere.
"Tanli, what are you doing?!" The wounded black dragon, after using time manipulation to heal, roared in pain.
"I swear, I—" Tanli, the black dragon, was utterly confused, trying to explain.
"Be careful, his power is probably some kind of illusion," Varde said, his face grim.
"Cunning human!" the other three black dragons roared. Four against one, and yet being toyed with this was beyond humiliating. They were about to explode with rage.
"Don't blame me for your own stupidity," Riku mocked, appearing on Varde's back.
Boom—!
As he spoke, Riku stomped down hard on Varde, caving in his scales and sending his huge body plummeting to the ground, creating a massive crater and sending rocks flying everywhere.
"Explode!" The other three black dragons, furious, unleashed Words of Power, and everything in their sight erupted in a storm of explosions. Space itself trembled, and shockwaves rolled.
Riku's body seemed to be torn apart, but the mocking grin on his face only unsettled the dragons further.
The next instant, Riku appeared on top of another black dragon's head, kicking it like a soccer ball through several mountains.
For the dragonia, it was outrageous that a mere human, so tiny by comparison, was kicking them around like they were nothing.
No matter how enraged they became, no matter how wildly they attacked, they couldn't even touch Riku. Most of their attacks, thanks to Riku's manipulation of their senses, ended up hitting their own allies, nearly fracturing their relationships.
If they hadn't known it was Riku's doing, they probably would have started fighting each other for real.
The frustration was enough to make them cough up blood. This wasn't even a fight, it was them being singlehandedly toyed with.
"See? I knew it would end like this." Zhuralis sighed. "That ability of his is way too broken. I'm sure it has a limit, but I still haven't found it."
"Ugh… I actually feel a little sorry for Varde and the others." The other white dragons couldn't help but groan. Thankfully, they hadn't been stupid enough to pick a fight with that human; otherwise, they'd be getting the same treatment.
Only now did they understand why Zhuralis had submitted to a human. He really did have the power.
And according to Zhuralis, this same human had gone from barely holding his own against her, to toying with four dragonia at once in just a week. That growth rate was absurd.
No wonder Zhuralis thought he had limitless potential.
The other white dragons found themselves wholeheartedly agreeing.
"Hehehe, Master's amazing, he managed to toy with those dumb dragons so easily. I wonder what other trump cards he's hiding. I can't wait to see more," Jibril muttered, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"By the way, Schwi, did you already know things would turn out this way?" Jibril turned to Schwi, who had remained unusually calm throughout the whole battle.
To be honest, she'd been a little worried at first, fighting four dragonia at once was no joke.
"Riku won't lose," Schwi replied with absolute certainty.
"Ohh, I guess I need to reflect on my lack of faith in Master." Jibril grinned.
"Human!!! If you've got any guts, fight us head-on! This doesn't count for anything!" Overhead, Varde's frustration reached its breaking point as he roared furiously.
No one knew what he'd been through in this kind of battle, he'd never experienced in his life, and it was humiliating enough to make him want to die.