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"—!" As Dora rocketed toward him, Riku's eyes sharpened. He suddenly sidestepped mid-air, dodging the attack completely.
Dora's punch whiffed, but the shockwave alone tore through the air—Riku's scalp tingled just imagining what would've happened if that had hit.
He'd be nothing but a red mist.
"ROARRR—!"Dora didn't slow down. He locked onto Riku and roared again, somehow stepping through the air to chase him down.
Yeah. He literally stomped on air.
Totally broke the laws of physics. Newton would be rolling in his grave right now...
"CLANG—!"Riku didn't panic. Just as Dora closed in again, he summoned a spirit shield with a burst of energy.
Dora's punch slammed into it, shaking the air with a boom. Riku was blasted backward once more.
But the shield held.
Riku's energy was strong enough to stop Dora's full-strength attack.
"You think you can keep this up, human?!" Dora growled, his face twisted with bloodlust. He stepped on air again, diving toward Riku like a rabid beast who wouldn't stop until his prey was in pieces.
You had to admit, guys who could break the rules of physics like this were insanely hard to deal with. Super strong bodies, lightning-fast speed—it was nearly impossible to land a hit on them. Meanwhile, even one scratch from them could kill you.
For most people, this would be a nightmare. But for the Skywing race? Meh. Their destructive power could easily wipe out opponents like this in seconds.
Riku could do that too—but he was holding back. He needed to manage his power if he wanted to harvest the fruit later.
"This guy's toast."
"Seriously, I don't know how a human got this strong, but once Blood Fury kicks in, there's only one ending—death!"
"Captain Dora's one of the strongest in our whole beastman tribe! Taking this human down won't be a problem!"
The remaining beastmen watched Riku stuck on the defensive, dodging and blocking nonstop. They bared their fangs and spoke with confidence.
"Screw it, I'll use that thing... even if I've never used a bow before."Riku ignored their trash talk. Still dodging and blocking Dora's attacks behind his energy shield, he summoned a bow in one hand—and in the other, a strange spiraling sword.
It was his backup: the fake Spiral Sword.
He placed the Spiral Sword on the bowstring and drew it back.
"Heh, you think that toy's gonna hit me? Don't be stupid!" Dora snarled. He struck the shield again with another full-force punch.
"CRACK—!"
A spiderweb of fractures appeared on Riku's energy shield. Dora's eyes lit up with excitement, and his face twisted even more.
One more hit, and that turtle shell would be toast.
But just as he was about to strike again, a flash of purple light suddenly burst from Riku's body—
And the next second, Riku vanished right before Dora's eyes.
"Where'd he go? Crap!" Dora's pupils shrank in an instant. His sharp instincts and heightened senses immediately caught the sound behind him.
"Splat—!"Before Dora could even react, Riku didn't hesitate—he launched a fake Spiral Sword straight at him!
The sword flew right past his body—so close it practically scraped him—and its power was insane. Even the beastman's tough defense couldn't take it. It tore a bloody hole straight through Dora's chest, blood gushing everywhere!
"Grah—!"The pain was overwhelming. Dora stared in disbelief at the bloody hole in his chest, feeling his life draining away.
"Damn it...!"Even a wounded beast can strike back with its dying breath. Furious, Dora swung a clawed hand behind him in a desperate counterattack.
But Riku had already vanished again, reappearing a few steps back, face cold and calm—dodging the attack like it was nothing.
"Spatial teleportation... You… you even have power like that..."Dora gave a bitter smile, his voice weak. Before he could finish the sentence, he coughed up a mouthful of blood—and died with eyes full of unwillingness.
He never imagined he'd get completely crushed… by a human.
"Did you really think I was just running around for nothing?"Riku looked down at Dora's corpse with a cold expression.
In Shangri-La, teleportation only works if you've pre-set spatial coordinates. All of this had been part of Riku's plan from the start.
That beastman captain might've looked tough, but he was already playing right into Riku's hands.
Right after, Riku activated his Skystep. Before Dora's body even hit the ground, Riku blurred into motion, dashed over, and yanked the backpack off Dora's side pouch—tossing it into his storage space.
"Captain Dora!"Only then did the beastmen below react. They stared in utter disbelief.
Their captain—one of the few who could use the beastman ultimate skill Bloodburst—was dead. Just like that!
"You bastard human! I'll kill you!"In a flash, the remaining four beastmen snapped, roaring with rage. Using their powerful bodies, they leapt into the sky, trying to take Riku down.
But without the ability to use Bloodburst to break past their physical limits, they might as well have been flying targets. They were practically handing their lives over.
Clearly, they'd all lost their minds to rage and hatred.
"....."