30 Impression of true peace (2/2)

”What nonsense...” Riyku would steadily crush the item in his hand and before long it would snap. Two pieces falling on the ground of which Riyku would stomp on smashing it into dust before looking to Bell who was banging upon the door of the elevator shaft while pleading to be saved.

”Look at you, cowering in fear. What happened? Weren't you going to kill me? Make me watch as your men raped my precious friends? Weren't you going to do any of that!? Where did all of that confidence go, BELL?” Riyku growled at the girl who was in tears. ”Please! Stop! I'm sorry! I was tired of being made fun of! People started to treat me differently after you beat up Jack. Everything changed since you appeared! Just stop already! Please!” The girl would beg, yet... it did nothing.

”You truly believe I can forgive you? After all, you have done? For something so pitiful...” Riyku would slam the Soluna Blade into the ground. ”No... you will pay for your transgression.” Lifting both of his hands, he began to weave them around as if he were conducting an orchestra. The shadows around playing to his melody, which grasped the ankles of Bell. Lifting her off the ground to hang her upside. ”You will dance to my melody, long before I end your life,” Riyku muttered as he continued to wave his hands around. The shadows coming up one at a time from different angles to whip her as a form of punishment. The strikes tearing through her Holy Aura with ease. The first strike caused her to cry in pain as it tore a piece of her armor. Then the second, and the third and the fourth, so on and so forth. ”Please... I am sorry...” Bell muttered before a shadow tendril slapped her across the face. Riyku had no words for her. Instead, he would continue to play the melody before him, each time the woman would beg for forgiveness she would get slapped by a tendril. Eventually, the woman was left with nothing but tattered rags of her underclothing. Her body drizzling with her blood that dripped onto the ground as she dangled off of it. A glimmer of hope-filled her eyes when the shadows dropped her onto the ground. Though, that hope was shattered when they latched ontop her, grasping both of her ankles and wrist and spreading out completely. Approaching the woman, Riyku would circle her to stare into her eyes. Tears filled those fearful eyes of hers, yet that only seemed to amuse Riyku who would snap his fingers. The shadows would form into some kind of table that strapped her in firmly.

”W-what are you going to do?” Bell inquired with fear in her voice. The woman had completely changed her demeanor as to earlier. ”Make you suffer. Though... I'll let you live if you can endure everything until the end.” Riyku would smirk deviously, which only widened when he saw the flicker of hope-filled her eyes. ”R-really?” She inquired hastily and the male would nod. ”Of course. I am a man of my word.” He added and the hope in her eyes would brim brighter. Though... she was not expecting anything like what was to come next. A thin shadow thorn would pierce through the tip of her index finger, then another thorn pierced through the same finger but a few centimeters down. The same thing happened again on the finger and again until it reached her knuckle. Another shadow thorn would pierce her ring finger next and cycle through the same sequence up until all of her fingers and thumb were completely pierced through. It was then a larger thorn pierced through her hand, then followed down her arms the same slow but steady pace as it did with her fingers. The entire time the woman would cry out in pain, tears rolling down her face as she struggled to endure.

When both of her arms were completely done, her toes and legs seemed to be next. The same thing applied, the thorns grew in size to accommodate the fleshy space. Though, the hope that she would be able to live burned brightly in the girl's eyes. Meanwhile, Riyku would stand there and watch, no expression on his face. The horror on everyone's face at the gruesome and brutal torture on display was vivid. This was no battle, nor could it even be called a massacre. It was an execution.

”Riyku...” Vex muttered as she grasped Lira's hand tightly and the other grasping Kristen's tightly. Lira and Kristen would squeeze Vex's hand tightly, soft tears escaped both of their closed eyes. ”Even they can feel it. This is not you... Please, don't do this Riyku...” Vex whispered with a sorrowful expression.

”An execution?” A feminine voice called out. Her eyes staring at the screen on display in the empty waiting area. ”Looks like it.” A young man's voice called out. ”Your highness... Do you believe think we can take him?” The second female of the group called out. The man shook his head, ”Not sure. I need to be there to find out.” The male stated. ”Haha, the Ghostly Prince is scared of some lone man? Now that's new!” A hysterical voice called out from their side. The two girls glared at the man who happened to snicker. ”You bitches can't do anything to us. So stay where your master is.” One of the teammates of the man who was carrying the Sickle stated. A heavy sigh parted the lips of the young man. ”Yet we were the ones who won last year's Death Games. It looks as if everyone who was in the top three is here as well.” The male added when he made note of the short cloaked girl.

”IVS? Bah. They just got lucky again. Their team is filled with nothing, but bitches anyways.” The man with the sickle stated, but that obvious taunt did nothing to the girl who was focused on the screen. ”Father...” The girl muttered to herself. ”Leader?” One of the team members of IVS called to the girl. ”Well, it looks like we know who the fourth person will be.” The young man stated as his eyes returned to the screen. ”Well, he does look far more interesting than you lot. Plus that murderous aura he was giving off earlier too was delicious.” The man stated with a sadistic smirk as his eyes turned to the screen.

”Is that really, Riyku?” Rick inquired with slight fear. ”I... Believe so.” Mel replied. ”Well, he appears to be super powerful. Like some kind of super boss or something.” Jessica added. ”But his method of going about this is... far too brutal.” Ion would state. ”Even for when he beat up Jack. He wasn't trying to kill him there, but here... It is like he is going to execute Bell.” Ion would continue. ”On National Television at that.” Mel would add. ”That...” Nora would mutter to herself as if she were going to say something but stopped.

”Just a little more...” Bell whispered to herself as she slowly began to fill lightheaded. ”Just a little more...” She would repeat, her vision slowly becoming blurry. ”I can survive... I will live...” She continued, even though her eyes were feeling extremely heavy. When the last thorn that had pierced through both of her thighs had come up Riyku would steadily begin to clap his hands. ”Congratulations, you survived.” Riyku would snap his fingers and the shadows would release the binds on her, the thorns retracting and the table disappears which caused the woman to fall to the ground. ”Hm? What's wrong? I thought you were going to live?” Riyku called out to the woman who had lost all hope in her eyes, which slowly became devoid of all life. ”Oh? You thought I was going to save you? The deal was I left you live if you endured. You endured and I let you live. I never said I was going to save you.” Riyku would walk towards his Soluna Blade and pick it out of the ground.

'Quest: Defeat the Raging Shadow Demon failed!'

A text box appeared before the corpse of Bell. ”If you were anything but human, you may have survived the blood loss,” Riyku stated without looking back at Bell, his feet carrying him towards the elevator that brought him up here. ”And that's it, folks! This concludes our primary round of the Death Games. Our final contestants are; Team Rosario, Team Phantom, Team IVS, and Team Reaper. These four teams will proceed to the semi-finals tomorrow. So stay tuned and come again!” A voice announcer came on, and Riyku would enter the elevator shaft. When the doors closed his weapon would return to his inventory via Weapon Return. His hands resting at his side as he stared at the door.

[Hehehe... You remember now, don't you? The reason you continue to live.]

Harvester called out to him. Though Riyku would shake his head. ”My reason to live...” He narrowed his eyes. ”I...” It was then that Seraphina's voice finally got through to him. 'Riyku! Don't listen to him any longer! Please!' Seraphina called out which caused him to close his eyes. ”Enough... I have done what I wished to achieve.” Riyku stated. A prompt would appear before him.

'Rage and Dark Form duration has reached its limit. Deactivation will occur now.'

It was then that the blackness on his flesh would steadily release from him like a mist, the glowing beat red in his eyes simmering down to a dull crimson color. Afterward, the male would fall back against the elevator shaft. Breathing heavily as he gripped his chest tightly. His iris' looking upon his UI to see that his Fatigue bar was nearly empty, and his Shield Points had sustained major damage to them while his Mana Points were empty.

[So... you choose to remain as you are now? The power you experienced is still a mere portion of what you are truly capable of. When the time comes that you need me, call me. I will give you the full extent of your power.]

Harvester made a statement, before seeming to just vanish once more. 'Don't listen to him Riyku. While he is right about that being a portion of your power, you do not need your old power in this new world. Gain power through this new world... Okay?' Seraphina's voice came out to Riyku who was heaving heavily, but never gave her an answer. The sound of a ding signaled the opening of the elevator door. Though before Riyku could even step someone shouted, ”Freeze! Don't Move!” A red dot was pointed right where his heart was. Eyes narrowing at him from someone who looked like they were a normal civilian or something. ”What?” Riyku would growl. He was out of options, his fatigue bar was nearly empty, his Shield Points maybe ten percent remaining and he had no Mana Points. Even if he wanted to get out of this situation there was no way he could, so all he could do was just stand there. ”My name is Azeal of the Hunter's Legion. You are going to be coming with me for questioning.” The man stated which Riyku shook his head, he knew what this was about. ”Let me guess, because of my power?” Riyku stated to which the man nodded. ”That is it. I would rather do this the easy way, but if you resist... well.” Azeal stated to which Riyku chuckled lightly. ”Do you think I could do anything right now? Take a look for yourself.” Riyku would remark before falling back against the shaft.

Azeal would lower his weapon and release a heavy sigh. ”Just need to make sure. The power you put on display can cause quite a bit of fuss and can stir up the Nation. We just need to make sure that you are who you say you are is all.” Azeal stated and Riyku would nod. ”Fine by me. However, I need to see someone first.” Azeal would see the worry in the male's eyes and would nod lightly. ”As long as you don't try to run away. Let's go.” Azeal would move to help Riyku and the two of them made their way to the Medical room. Well one of them anyway. Upon entering the door, Riyku could see Vex who had turned from the two girls towards him. ”Riyku!?” She exclaimed with both surprise and slight fear. ”I am fine. Don't worry...” He replied to her as he tried to make his way towards Kristen and Lira. ”How are they?” Riyku asked. ”Kristen is fatigued is all; however, Lira... well... They say she might recover, but it will be a while before she can take to any battles or anything like that. I am afraid that she may drop into the slave rankings...” Vex muttered which caused Riyku to grit his teeth.

”Nah. That won't happen.” Azeal stated as he came up from behind Riyku and placed a hand onto his shoulder. ”If her condition is that bad, her points and ranking will stay in a frozen state until she makes a full recovery. It's not in the rules or regulations, but it is more like an official hidden rule. Not many people know about it, but it does exist.” Azeal stated. ”Who is this?” Vex inquired after listening to Azeal. The relief in her eyes and the released tension of Riyku's muscles caused the man to step back. ”Apologizes. My name is Azeal, I am with the Hunter Legion. I am here to take Riyku in for questioning. Nothing more, nothing less. I am sure you are aware of his power.” Azeal stated and Vex nodded. ”Yes. We all are. Though, please believe me when I say this. Riyku is not a bad person. He was only angry because...” Azeal would shake his head when Vex tried to explain to him what had happened. ”You have it all wrong. As I said, I am merely going to ask him questions. After that, we will return to you.” The relief in Vex's eyes and the breath of relief were signs that she understood what Azeal said.

”Well, it's time to go Riyku.” Azeal would state and Riyku would nod. ”Take care of them. I'll be back to check up on them myself later.” Riyku would state with a sadden expression and Vex would nod. ”I will,” Vex stated firmly as she watched Riyku leave with Azeal. A worrisome expression partook of her face, ”You be safe too.” Vex whispered.