Ryuuto's left arm twitched—feeling returned.
A sharp grin curled on his lips. "Heh. Guess I'm not scared of teleport-happy goddesses anymore."
Across from him, Hela—still smug from her earlier strike—watched him with eyes colder than the void.
Without warning, Ryuuto formed a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In a storm of chakra smoke, forty-plus clones appeared around the training yard, circling like ghosts.
Ryuuto folded his arms. "So, Hela… care to guess which one's the real me?"
Dozens of Ryuutos smirked in unison, all speaking the same line at once—an eerie chorus that might've unsettled anyone else.
But Hela? She merely raised a brow.
"Don't insult me, mortal."
In a flicker of black mist, she vanished—then reappeared directly behind him.
Her scythe swung.
Ryuuto dodged by instinct, spinning away with a gust of chakra.
He landed hard, dust rising. Tch. She saw through it?
"My eyes," Hela said coolly, "can see souls. Those copies of yours? Empty shells. Tricks won't work on me."
Ryuuto exhaled, snapping his fingers. His clones dispersed into smoke. "Guess I'll just have to outpace you instead."
The air shifted.
He clenched his fists, chakra roaring in his veins like molten fire.
"Eight Inner Gates—First Gate: Open!"
"Second Gate—Heal! Open!"
"Third—Life! Open!"
"Fourth—Pain! Open!"
"Fifth—Limit! Open!"
"Sixth—View! Open!"
"Seventh—Shock! Open!"
BOOM!
The ground cracked beneath him as blue-green energy exploded outward, spiraling like a living hurricane.
Once, that power tore him apart from the inside out. But now? The system automatically flooded his veins with recovery serum, balancing his body on the edge of destruction and godhood.
Hela's eyes narrowed, seeing the glow surrounding his soul itself. "Interesting… even your spirit burns stronger than before."
Her curiosity turned to irritation as Ryuuto vanished—reappearing behind her in a blur.
His kick connected squarely.
WHAM!
The Goddess of Death crashed into the dirt, armor shattering, black aura rippling wildly.
Her pride burned hotter than pain.
"You dare…!" Hela hissed, rising to her feet.
"Oh, I dare," Ryuuto smirked. "C'mon, Death Queen. Let's dance."
What followed was a battle of speed and fury.
Hela blinked from point to point with instant teleportation.
Ryuuto's movements blurred faster than sight, his afterimages twisting through the battlefield like red streaks of lightning.
One hid with speed.
The other with space.
It was chaos—pure, kinetic chaos.
From afar, Natasha Romanoff and Katie Dee could barely comprehend what they were seeing.
Katie squinted at the field, empty except for shockwaves and flying debris. "Where's my brother? Did he just… run away?"
Natasha's voice was tense but steady. "No. He's still fighting her—the Queen of the Underworld."
Katie's mouth fell open. "You mean that Hela? The goddess of death?!"
Natasha nodded grimly. "Exactly. And… Ryuuto's the only idiot reckless enough to challenge her head-on. But he's beaten Thor before. He can handle this."
"…You really believe that?" Katie asked quietly.
"Of course," Natasha lied.
In truth, her heart was pounding. She'd seen Hela's teleportation—how close she came to taking Ryuuto's soul in one strike.
If he slipped for even a second, that would be it.
Game over.
Meanwhile, the sky above trembled.
Energy spikes from Ryuuto's chakra storm were registering as massive distortions on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar.
In the helicarrier, Nick Fury stared at the flashing lights. "What in hell…?"
Maria Hill tried calling Natasha—no response.
Nick rubbed his temples. "I swear, if that kid dies with the damn Tesseract and scepter still on him…"
He didn't care who won. He just didn't want Ryuuto's corpse taking both artifacts with him.
Back in the fight, Shion's voice finally cut through the noise, unusually serious.
[Host! The Life Potion reserves are dropping at half a bottle every thirty seconds! You've got five minutes before your body collapses!]
Ryuuto gritted his teeth, skidding to a stop mid-air. "Tch… thanks for the pep talk, Shion."
[I'm serious, idiot! You'll burn your soul out! Seal the Gate now or you'll—]
"Can't. Not yet."
He glanced up at Hela, hovering above the flames of his chakra storm like a living specter. "If I can just get half a second faster…"
He clenched his jaw. The Eighth Gate whispered to him.
Don't even think about it, he told himself. That's a one-way trip.
Then—an idea.
"Natasha! Katie! Move out—now!"
They looked up just as his chakra spiked even higher.
Natasha didn't argue; she grabbed Katie's wrist and sprinted out of range.
"Ryuuto, what are you—"
"Just run!"