Come Ask Me
Seeing that Riyao had defeated Gray and the others, Yalok, the Dark Magic Cult in the distance, immediately felt that the battle was in their hands.
"Um, you there! Kill them all quickly! Lord Zeref is about to arrive! Hahaha..."
The two eyes beneath the mask were wide open, and he was so excited that he waved his arms and legs, pounding the staff on the ground with a thud.
"What are you spouting nonsense about? You think you're worthy to be a leader?"
Riyao appeared in front of Yalok in the blink of an eye, and with a single blow, Yalok collapsed instantly.
A large bump bulged up on the back of his head at a visible speed, throbbed a couple of times, and then stopped moving completely.
The entire room fell silent.
A gentle breeze swept a few withered blades of grass across the ground, leaving the black-robed cultists groaning on the ground utterly dumbfounded.
No one expected that Riyao would indiscriminately defeat both sides.
Erza's lips twitched, her expression indescribable.
She raised her hand and rubbed her throbbing temples, the guilt she felt from being bribed by Mirajane with the strawberry cake vanishing instantly.
Still so unconventional.
This couple is always neglecting their duties, acting more enthusiastically than anyone else. Now look what's happened, they've even knocked out the leader of the enemy's stronghold.
Aside from being a bit of a headache dealing with the controls of Riyao and Mirajane, she was also curious about what exactly this new form of Riyao was.
Her waist-length pure white hair shimmered softly in the wind, her left eye gleamed gold, and her right eye shone silver. The faint yet palpable divine pressure emanating from her was not the behavior one would expect from a human mage.
Erza's eyes narrowed slightly, and she placed her hand on her lower back.
She stroked the hilt of her sword a few times, then pushed off with her feet and charged towards Riyao.
She left two deep imprints on the ground with her footsteps, and her two gleaming swords crossed in mid-air, creating a dazzling white light.
As Riyao saw Erza charging towards him with twin swords, he tilted his head, wondering what she was up to.
The rotten wooden stick in his hand was still draped diagonally over his shoulder, and his heterochromatic eyes, with their gold and silver hues beneath his white hair, blinked twice, revealing a hint of nonchalance.
The next second he knew what Erza was planning to do.
The sword wind tore through the air, emitting a piercing shriek.
She slashed at Riyao's shoulder with one stroke and at Riyao waist with the other.
"Hey hey hey, do you want to dance too?"
Riyao casually raised his staff, deflecting the twin swords, and then struck Erza in the chest with the final blow.
Two crisp, metallic clangs rang out.
The tip of the wooden stick seemed to be waiting in the path of the blades; with a casual flick of the wrist, the twin swords were easily deflected.
Immediately afterwards, the blunt piece of wood landed precisely in the center of Erza's silver armor.
Erza felt a tremendous force and was sent flying uncontrollably, her boots carving two furrows into the grass beneath her feet.
He staggered back more than ten steps before managing to steady himself, his boots scraping against the ground and kicking up a cloud of smoke, his entire suit of armor trembling slightly.
She clutched her chest, her eyes wide with shock.
She had just seen Riyao's movements, but she didn't have time to react.
Her nerves and muscles had clearly sent out defensive commands, but her body felt like it was stuck in a quagmire, and she could only watch helplessly as the wooden stick came stabbing at her.
What kind of magic is this?
Just then...
Thick, dark clouds churned and gathered overhead, a fierce wind howled, and dark cracks appeared in the ground.
A black magic circle, hundreds of meters in diameter, slowly rotated in mid-air, emitting a nauseating stench of blood.
The cult leader, who had been beaten black and blue, had somehow woken up again. He lay face down in the mud, his hands digging into the ground, his face contorted with madness.
"Hahaha... You will all become nourishment for me to summon Zeref!"
Riyao raised his leg and kicked him away.
A muffled thud.
He scooped Yalok's chin with his toe and kicked him like a football, sending him flying dozens of meters before he crashed into a pile of rocks with a loud thud and fell completely still.
"What are you barking about, dog? Go stand over there."
He had kept this Yalok all along, wanting to see what these so-called Eighteen Battle Gods of Demon Servitude looked like. Now that he'd used them, he'd kicked them unconscious.
As for why he spared Yalok's life, it wasn't because Riyao was kind-hearted. In his eyes, Yalok was as weak as Canis Minor and couldn't cause any trouble. It was better to keep him alive to help Levy and the others increase their performance.
The black magic circle in the sky had reached its limit, and the dense black mist condensed on the ground into a stone giant that blotted out the sky.
The colossal statue, tens of meters tall, with its thick arms gripping a long sword and its eyes flickering with ghostly fire, caused the entire mountain to tremble with every step it took.
Riyao looked up at the now fully materialized [Battle Bond] statue.
He tilted his head, not understanding how this thing was constructed.
"What is this thing? Is it really a god?"
Natsu rushed over, intending to ambush Riyao from behind, but he was shouting loudly as he did so.
The boy was enveloped in raging red flames, running wildly along, his feet treading on sparks, the flames on his fists distorting the air.
"Die, you bastard!"
Riyao didn't even turn his head; he slammed the stick backward, slamming Natsu into the ground.
With a bang.
Natsu crashed straight through the grass, most of his body sinking into the mud. His legs kicked in the air, and a wisp of white smoke rose from his head.
"Stop messing around, didn't you see the big monster spawn?"
Erza, rubbing her forehead.
Who's causing trouble here?
"Riyao, stop making a scene and get this over with."
Erza sheathed her longsword and urged her impatiently.
Lucy and the others all heard Erza's words and stared at Riyao.
Riyao felt a little uneasy under the gaze. He sighed; the performance was over.
He could only revert to his original appearance, but he still retained the False God Form.
Her long, snow-white hair reached her waist and moved without wind; her left eye shone with golden light like the sun, and her right eye shone with silver light like the moon.
Seeing that she and Riyao had returned to their original appearances, Mirajane pulled out a small comb from somewhere, and while fixing her bangs, she quickly ran to Lucy and Wendy's side, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons with a smile.
Riyao took two steps forward, arriving above Battle Bond's head in just two steps, and slammed down with a punch.
He calmly clenched his fist and pressed it down.
With just one punch, not much force, the statue of the Battle Bond shattered like a mirror.
Click--
Centered on the point where the fist landed, countless spiderweb-like streaks of white light spread outwards.
The enormous statue was instantly covered in cracks.
The cracks multiplied, and the statue of the Battle Bond finally shattered into dust, falling like snowflakes.
The black stone chips scattered everywhere disintegrated and melted, turning into shimmering specks of light that fluttered down.
"Feelings are like the Celestial Spirit, not some kind of true god. Tsk, what a waste of my expectations."
Riyao shook his head high in the sky.
He took a step forward and instantly returned to Mirajane's side.
Natsu pulled his head out of the ground; he had heard everything and stormed off toward Riyao.
With mud in his hands and veins bulging on his forehead, he ran wildly while roaring.
"Damn Riyao!!"
Riyao punched the air to the side, but didn't even touch Natsu.
Bang!
Natsu let out a scream and was once again shoved headfirst into the mud pit, his legs dangling in mid-air.
The others stared in disbelief. What kind of magic was this?
Gray swallowed back the retort that was on the tip of his tongue, Lucy covered her mouth, speechless, and even Ur raised an eyebrow.
Facing the shocked and inquisitive gazes of the crowd, Riyao lazily yawned, casually draped his arm over Mirajane's shoulder, and leaned half of his body against Mirajane.
Mirajane grunted twice, her face seemingly saying, "Come and ask me."
She stood with her hands behind her back, slightly puffed out her chest, and held her chin high, her delicate face filled with pride.