Chapter 170: The Wild Hunt of Twin Beasts
The silence following Riku's devastating blows was brief—too brief.
From the cracked walls, rubble shifted. Torga was the first to rise, blood trickling from his lip but a twisted grin stretching wide across his bruised face.
"Heh... now that was a real hit."
Veylan pushed himself up next, slower, but his expression had changed. No longer calm and calculating—it was focused. Feral.
Then, without a word, the two locked eyes—and something snapped.
A low hum vibrated through the bunker as their essences intertwined. Riku felt it like a pulse of thunder—no, like the howl of two wild predators syncing heartbeats. Torga let out a bellowing roar that shook the walls, his body bulking as kinetic force surged across his frame like armor. Veylan's blades dissolved, replaced by claws of pure shadow essence that curled and shifted like living smoke.
Their movements, once separate, now mirrored each other in chaotic symmetry.
"Looks like they stopped holding back," Riku muttered, stepping into a loose stance.
The brothers lunged at the same time.
Torga came high, spinning with a flame-coated elbow that carried the weight of a battering ram. Veylan slithered low, silent and deadly, his claws aimed for Riku's Achilles.
Riku vanished.
But even his flash step wasn't fast enough to fully escape.
A claw grazed his leg mid-phase. A fist clipped his shoulder as he reappeared.
Essence exploded around them in a ripple, and this time, Riku stumbled—if only a step.
The brothers didn't stop. Their rhythm was perfect now—one moved as bait, the other punished hesitation. Their strikes came like a hunting pack: one drawing attention, the other going for the throat.
"Wild beasts..." Riku whispered, his voice almost admiring. "But still caged."
Riku's form shimmered, the silver-white fractals on his Triad Divine Avatar pulsing brighter. The wounds they left were already closing, sealed by radiant light.
Then Riku moved.
Not defensively—but dominantly.
He lunged into their rhythm.
The moment Torga came in with another wide arc, Riku ducked under—not away—and slammed his palm into Torga's ribs, breaking them with a dull crack. The force of the blow turned Torga sideways just in time for Veylan to appear—only to catch a knee to the face that sent blood flying from his mouth.
"Stop thinking like brothers," Riku said, stepping between them. "You'll need to become monsters to stop me."
Torga's eyes went wild. "THAT'S THE POINT!"
He let out another roar, essence distorting into a warped aura—feral, primal, unstable.
Veylan followed suit, whispering something under his breath as shadows bloomed into wings behind him—part bird, part beast, part abyss.
Together, they lunged again.
This time Riku didn't dodge.
He caught both their attacks—Torga's flaming haymaker in his left hand, Veylan's shadow-claw in his right.
The hallway exploded around them as the impact echoed.
But Riku didn't move.
He held them both in place—arms locked, body unmoving, eyes glowing with cold, divine fury.
"…And now you've peaked."
He lifted them.
And with a single motion, he slammed both brothers into the steel ground so hard the entire floor ruptured, sending shockwaves through the entire level.
The dust hadn't even settled when both bodies lay still—unconscious, essence flickering, completely overwhelmed.
Riku stood at the center, his breath steady, light fractals still dancing across his skin.
"Four down," he said quietly, turning toward the next corridor—where the final High Code and their boss waited beyond.
His voice dropped to a low growl.
"Come. I'm still not full yet."