Riyao pulled back with a staggered step after throwing over a dozen punches, his emerald-green eyes darting as he immediately realized something.
Something was wrong! This godforsaken place had been blasted by toxic gas until not even a blade of fresh grass remained. The environment was suppressing him completely; the vitality he could draw out to enchant his fists was less than half of what he had expected. The efficiency of "Weight of Life" was as low as squeezed-out toothpaste. Continuing to fight head-on like this was a pure waste of effort!
Having realized this, he immediately changed his tactics, no longer engaging in a direct confrontation with the clumsy gorilla.
The hideous gorilla, over three meters tall, swung fists the size of millstones, pounding toward his head like a pile driver. Each strike cracked the scorched earth and sent debris flying, and its roars shook the colorful Punk hair hanging from broken branches, making them fall in heaps. Yet, it couldn't even touch a corner of Riyao's clothes! Riyao was as slippery as a greased eel, dodging left and right to weave through the gaps in Nibu's attacks, making the gorilla so dizzy its eyes blurred, leaving it to do nothing but roar blindly.
At the exact moment Nibu's punch missed and his center of gravity shifted forward...
Riyao's foot slammed down, shattering the scorched earth beneath him, and he lunged forward like a gold-and-green bullet. His clenched fist, wrapped in brilliant gold magic, smashed ruthlessly toward Nibu's heart!
Nibu, who had been howling wildly, instantly froze into a black-furred stone gorilla stuck in the ground. His crimson eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out of their sockets, the roar in his throat was choked off, and his heart literally stopped for a full second!
Riyao's eyes lit up, his mouth splitting into a grin that reached his ears, his mischievous smirk practically overflowing. "Yo, it actually hit!"
Next was happy target practice time!
He moved as if on double speed, darting in and out of the gaps around Nibu's massive frame, his fists raining down like hailstones on every vital spot.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Every punch landed solidly on spots like the heart, throat, and lower back. With every hit, Nibu's body convulsed, and his organs began to fail.
Riyao punched so fast his hands created a breeze, yet he didn't forget to pour out a stream of mockery so annoying it could make a person explode with rage:
"Weren't you acting all arrogant? Where's that toughness you had when you were stepping on my head earlier?"
"A three-meter giant using small fry for explosions and then transforming, yet in the end, you can't even touch my clothes. Is the Longla family's DNA really this consistent? Your brother is a mangy bird and you're a stupid gorilla—turns out you're both just for show?"
"Didn't you say you were going to turn me into underground fertilizer? This strength of yours isn't even as good as me kneading dough in the morning! Haven't you eaten? Put some back into it!"
The rhythmic sound of boots broke through the toxic mist as Arcadios finally arrived, leading a full squad of Magic Knights. His ink-black cloak fluttered in the wind. He raised a hand and pressed down, and a thousand men instantly froze in place, even their breathing synchronized, without a single extra sound.
Riyao, who was happily beating up Nibu, twitched his ears. His emerald eyes glanced over and spotted Arcadios at the head of the squad. He immediately gathered his breath and shouted, his magic-infused voice drifting clearly out of the toxic zone: "Don't come over! It's full of toxic gas here!"
Arcadios's brow furrowed imperceptibly. Without a moment's hesitation, he waved his hand to signal the entire squad to retreat, pulling back beyond the range of the dark purple toxic gas. He then immediately picked the fastest light-armored knight and ordered him to return to the Royal Capital to report and mobilize the Detoxification Magic Unit with their equipment. All deployments were clearly arranged in just a few sentences. He remained standing on the upwind slope, his heavy gaze falling on the churning toxic mist in the woods, carefully observing the diffusion range of the gas.
On this side, just as the thought "it's time to end this" crossed Riyao's mind, he was already moving!
Swish!
A gold-and-green afterimage was so fast it left translucent ghosts in the air. The small figure that had been weaving through Nibu's fist shadows just a moment ago was behind the three-meter-tall gorilla in the blink of an eye! Nibu was still blindly swinging his millstone-sized claws and roaring, unable to touch even a corner of Riyao's clothes, completely unaware someone was behind him.
Riyao clenched his fist, the brilliant gold magic on it shining blindingly. Aiming for the vital point where Nibu's neck met his spine, he put all his strength into a ruthless strike.
Thud!! Boom!!
First came the dull sound of bones dislocating, followed by the massive thud of the giant body hitting the ground, shaking the scorched earth so hard that debris leaped three feet high!
Nibu couldn't catch his breath. He wasn't dead, but his cervical spine was completely shattered, leaving him totally paralyzed from the neck down. His massive body lay slumped at the bottom of the crater, thick arms draped over broken stones, unable to move even a finger. Only his throat continued to emit intermittent roars through bloody bubbles. His crimson eyes bulged as if they were about to pop out of his head; he looked terrifying, but in reality, he was just all talk with zero threat left.
Riyao shook the black fur and blood from his fist and clapped the scorched dust and toxic ash off his palms. He scanned the messy, cratered woods, picked up his magic book, patted the dust off the cover, and held it. Nibu, still slumped at the bottom of the pit, continued to roar through his throat. Riyao gave his large head a dismissive nudge with his foot, ignored him, and turned to walk out of the toxic zone.
The moment he stepped out of the dark purple toxic boundary, Riyao expanded his chest and took a huge gulp of clean, non-toxic air into his lungs, then turned and grinned at Arcadios on the slope.
Refreshing~
With the toxins cleared and the suppression lifted, the vitality throughout Riyao's body immediately became active. A shimmering gold-and-green mist swirled hazily around him, so vibrant it almost overflowed, even more vigorous than before the battle. He rolled his shoulders, his joints popping, knowing full well in his heart: just now in the toxic zone, he was completely countered by the environment, and the vitality he could call upon had been suppressed to less than thirty percent. Honestly, if he hadn't stacked those three Enchantment Magics on himself beforehand and had a full pool of reserve vitality saved up in his Hundred Battles Technique, it really would have been hard to say if he could have walked out of there after being set up like that!
Riyao walked barefoot across the grass at the edge of the toxic zone and strolled over to Arcadios.
After all that blasting and fighting, his original clothes were in tatters. Half the hem was missing, there was a foot-long tear at the waist, and he was covered in black ash and bloodstains, exposing a small portion of his waist and abdomen—it was honestly a bit indecent.
The ruthlessness with which he had been pummeling the three-meter gorilla just a moment ago vanished completely. Riyao scratched the back of his head with his hands behind his back, shrugging his shoulders and twisting his body with a bashfulness exactly like a teenager who had accidentally dirtied a neighbor's fence. "Um... could I borrow a clean uniform? Mine is so torn up, it's a bit embarrassing..."
Arcadios's face, cold as an ice sculpture, remained motionless, except for his right eyelid which twitched violently. Three black lines practically slid down his forehead, and his internal monologue was racing: I knew this guy never plays by the rules! He fights more crazily than anyone, then turns around and acts shy with me. I really still can't get used to this!
He suppressed his nearly fracturing cold aura and shouted expressionlessly to those behind him, "Someone, bring a spare uniform for him."
Riyao's mouth split into a wide grin as he chirped, "Uncle, you're actually a good person!"
Arcadios's fingers gripping his sword hilt suddenly stiffened, and his freezing aura instantly cracked. The knights who had pulled back all lowered their heads in unison, pretending to look at the tips of their boots, their shoulders shaking as they tried to stifle their laughter.jpg