-----
-----
"Riiip—!"After easily finishing off the demon-type creatures below, Riku let out a small breath of relief. But in that exact moment—whoosh!—a sharp noise tore through the air. Riku's instincts kicked in, and he instantly used Shangri-La to teleport out of the way.
Where he had just been standing, the air itself seemed to ripple, currents surging as if something had sliced through space. No doubt about it—if that hit had landed, even Riku in his current form would've been shredded into pieces.
"Demon-type? Or maybe a mutated Demon Lord from the fantasy class?" Riku muttered, narrowing his eyes as he looked up at the thing that had ambushed him.
It was a giant eagle—easily five times the size of a regular hawk. But instead of feathers, its body looked like it was covered in black metal plates. Its talons and beak were razor-sharp, like they could pierce through anything. What really creeped Riku out, though, were its blood-red eyes—cold, sinister, and full of menace.
The massive eagle gave off an intense pressure and locked eyes with Riku, staring at him like it had already decided he was its prey.
"Still, whether it's a Demon Lord or a high-level demon creature, it's definitely not something easy to deal with."Riku quickly ran through his thoughts, analyzing the situation.
Regular demon-types don't have much intelligence—they just rely on instincts to hunt. But this thing? It knew to ambush him when he wasn't paying attention. That kind of awareness meant it wasn't stupid.
"SKREEEEE—!"Suddenly, the black eagle let out a shrill cry, its screech blasting through the air like a shockwave. Then it flapped its wings and shot toward Riku like a bolt of black lightning—freakishly fast.
Even Riku, who had already surpassed human physical limits, barely had time to react.
Back when he was weaker, he wouldn't have stood a chance. He would've been dead before he even realized what hit him.
BOOM—!Just before the eagle reached him, Riku stomped the air, dodging to the side and narrowly avoiding the strike. Then he clenched his fist and swung, landing a solid punch right into the eagle's belly.
Thud!The eagle was knocked back, spinning through the air for hundreds of meters.
A second later, it managed to steady itself, screeched furiously, and charged again. This time, a glowing energy started building inside its sharp beak.
"What the hell? Still not hurt? This thing's defense is way too high," Riku muttered, twitching slightly at the sight of the eagle still flying like nothing had happened.
But he didn't let himself get distracted. The moment the eagle launched itself like lightning again, Riku moved as well—his body flickering through the sky like a mirage.
That only pissed the eagle off more. It suddenly unleashed the energy it had been charging.
FWOOSH—!A jet-black energy beam ripped across the sky, aimed straight at Riku. It was so fast, even lightning couldn't keep up.
Riku felt an intense sense of danger in that moment. He froze mid-air, kicked off the air again, and barely managed to dodge the deadly beam.
BOOOOM—!The energy blast slammed into the canyon below, exploding with terrifying force.
A shockwave erupted, spreading for tens of kilometers. The ground trembled like an earthquake had hit. When the dust settled, it had left behind a crater so deep, the bottom wasn't even visible.
Floating above the destruction, Riku felt chills crawl down his spine. That thing had the destructive power of a freakin' nuke. If he'd taken that hit head-on, he'd be dead. Or at least missing most of his skin.
Meanwhile, the eagle's glowing red eyes now held a twisted, almost human-like cruelty. It started charging another blast.
"Oh, you wanna play rough? You think I'm just gonna roll over?" Riku finally lost his patience.
"Gate One – Open! Gate Two – Rest Gate, Open! Gate Three – Life Gate, OPEN!"With a loud shout, he activated the Eight Gates technique.
In an instant, an intense surge of energy exploded from his body, glowing visibly and ramping up his power by several levels.
"CRACKLE—!"At the same time, the black eagle launched another energy cannon straight at him.
But this time, it missed completely.
Riku had used Shangri-La to teleport right near the eagle. The next instant, he stomped the air and appeared right in front of it.
BOOM—!SPLURCH—!With a cold, emotionless face, Riku slammed his fist into the eagle's lower belly. This time, his punch tore through its defense, leaving a massive crater in its body and spraying blood everywhere.
The eagle let out a tortured scream as it was launched skyward like a ballistic missile.
"Gate Four – Wound Gate, OPEN!" Riku roared.
The green energy covering his body intensified, and his presence exploded like a pressure wave.
The first three gates were still within the safe zone. But Gate Four? That one was dangerous—it could seriously mess up your body if you weren't careful. Still, the power boost was insane.
Especially for someone like Riku, whose body had already broken past normal human limits.
BOOOM—!
He kicked the air again, creating a vacuum pocket, and shot up like a rocket. In an instant, he was beside the black eagle, who had just stabilized itself mid-air and was screeching furiously.
Riku threw another punch, blasting the air around them with a shockwave.
The eagle swung a massive claw in return, trying to clash head-on.
CRAAACK—!But in the next moment, Riku's punch shattered the eagle's talon completely, twisting it into a mangled mess.
The eagle screamed in pain.
But Riku wasn't finished. He moved above the flailing eagle and slammed his fist down on its head.
BOOM—! Its eyes popped out, its skull caved in, and it dropped like a meteor, falling right into the huge crater caused by its own earlier energy blast.
BOOM—! Another explosion rang out. The massive crater shook again, cracks spreading outward like a spiderweb.
"....."