Fruitless bounty

Since it seemed that May, Terry, and Luke were not going to come after him Riyku decided he would go after them. A quick dash would be intercepted by Luke who clashed his bastard sword against Riyku's Soluna. "Oh? Not bad..." Riyku smirked as he felt the struggle to which Luke would give off a grin of his own. "Don't plan on getting past me any time soon, kid." The male stated as the two continued their deadlock for a moment longer. "I will, one way or another." Riyku brought his free hand upward to Luke's gut. The jewel embedded in the glove giving off a faint glow before an explosion occurred between the two of them. The explosion seemed to push Luke back with a growl while Riyku had slid back from the force himself. "Sorry Luke, I was a little late on the follow-up," Terry called out after landing beside him. May seemed to race towards Luke and proceed to provide him with some kind of healing aura. "No. You did fine. That guy knew what you were doing. For a second I noticed his eyes shift in the direction you were coming from." Luke explained before pushing off the ground, having used his bastard sword to keep him steady. "What? But how? I completely masked my presences." Terry would reply to which Luke shook his head. "No sure. We need to be careful about how we take him on. It doesn't seem like he is out to kill us, but if we let our guards down just once..." Luke's eyes would widen when he noticed that the smoke was not clearing out. "Speaking of careful...." Riyku's voice parted from the haze before Terry cried out in pain. The sight of their comrade being flung to the other side of the arena caused them a bit of shock. "Terry!" May cried out before her voice was muffled by the fact that Riyku had his free hand cupped around her cheeks.

"You three should've known that it would take time for the smoke to filter out of this box. Stopping to heal your comrade was a foolish move when you know naught of your opponent." Riyku would fling May to the other side of the arena who would clash with Terry as the man tried to stand up. This sent them back into the ground. Luke would give a battle cry which drew Riyku's attention. Bringing his Soluna Blade upward, he would parry the Bastard Sword by knocking it aside before pressing the palm of his free hand against Luke's chest. "Checkmate," Riyku stated. Luke was prepared for the worst, yet nothing came. "As you said, I don't plan on killing you three. You three are not my targets. I won't shed unnecessary blood." Riyku stated as he turned on his heel, resting his sword against his shoulders while he walked back to his side of the arena. "So you want us to give up!?" Luke exclaimed in frustration which caused Riyku to shake his head. "I never said that. You are more than welcome to come at me once you three have recomposed yourselves." Riyku would turn to face Luke who was accompanied by May and Terry. The smoke was now filtered out which left everyone a clear field of vision. May seemed to be healing Terry and Luke again, and Riyku was giving them time to recover.

"Tell me something. Why didn't you take us out as you did with the previous team?" May inquired as she finished healing them. "Hmm..." Riyku would close his eyes for a moment as if to think of a response. "Honestly, there is no reason. I just felt like it." He would state with a shrug. "Though, if that does not quell your thirst. Perhaps, it is to learn more about team play." Riyku stated which caused them to give a shocked expression. "Is that why you are fighting alone?" Luke inquired to which Riyku would shake his head. "No. I have my reasons for taking the battlefield solo. Well, we have wasted enough time. Let us continue." Riyku would take to his stance yet again, giving off the same impression of a fake opening.

The three seemed to change up their formation. Luke was upfront like before, but Terry was off to the side with May standing between both of them. If anything they were all on the front line. A wise choice since that meant that they need no worry about any backline. "Terry!" May shouted just before she began to chant. Terry would dash towards Riyku, and Luke seemed to come from the other side with a pincer attack. A smirk curved across Riyku's lips as dashed towards May who was left open. Though the fact that Luke and Terry had dropped down in speed was a bit worrisome. It was not until Riyku was with blade's reach did May release her spell which happened to have been a massive amount of wind that not only pushed Riyku back but even cut down his Shield Points. If that wasn't troublesome enough, Luke and Terry had been prepared for this. Luke was already in midswing with his Bastard Sword coming from behind Riyku. Meanwhile, Terry was in mid-air as if riding the wind to keep Riyku from jumping over the blade. Sure he could try to duck down, but the wind pressure was preventing him from doing so. His escapes would have been on lockdown if he wasn't smart enough to withdraw the second blade from his Soluna. Kick off of his feet to ride the wind and use the second blade as to means to glide along with Luke's Bastard sword and use the Soluna Blade as a means to shield himself from any kind of attack that Terry was going to throw his way. Though he took it a step further, when he kicked off his feet, Riyku threw himself in a spin which caused him to spiral through both of them like a bullet.

Slamming both the second blade and the Soluna blade into the ground would yank him back into a proper position, and thanks to his indestructible bones, he did not receive any internal damage. Though, he would dash towards both Luke and Terry now, a grin wick across his face as he swung the Soluna Blade at Luke and the Second Blade at Terry, exchanging both blades to attack the other when they attempted to defend. Pressuring both them again back to May, now that the spell had ended.

"Whoa..." Rick seemed rather excited, having witnessed how Riyku went from being pressured to putting on the pressure in a matter of seconds. "I see what you meant by him being the strongest in all of the Eastern Region, however...." Nora had narrowed her eyes at the screen. Her serious expression drew upon her group's glances. "There is only so much one can do alone. Even if he is of the Hunter Legion, and he has always fought solo... There are some things that one can never experience alone." Nora seemed to express, which drew upon a more serious atmosphere than necessary. "Well, I am sure he has his reasons. But look at him, he is having fun." Ion would state. "True, that grin on his face isn't there for show." Jessica would add. "Let's just ask him when the Death Games end," Rick stated to which everyone seemed to agree. "Alright..." Nora would give in and enjoy the rest of the bout.

Unable to break from the string of attack set upon both of them, they were completely forced back to May who was in the middle of chanting another spell. "May, move!" Luke called out to which broke her concentration and the woman hastily move around her teammates to face Riyku's back. Though the moment she completely at his backside, Riyku would pivot off of his heel and dash towards May who had started up another chant. "May!" Terry called as he chased down Riyku with the attempt to take him down before he could reach May. Though the several lunge attacks did nothing, not even slow him down. The moment he reached May he would bring his Soluna Blade around to force her off her feet. Interestingly enough though, the weapon did not cleave her in half. Attaching the second blade to the main blade he would grip the hilt of the main blade with both hands and curve the weapon around with an upward strike as if he were hitting a ball with a baseball bat. This strike would send May towards the ceiling of this large box, and Riyku would follow up by kicking off the ground and ascending past her only to drop down by bringing the Soluna Blade downward. The weapon would carry May with her during this attack and the moment of impact shook the ground. "May!" Luke and Terry shouted in sync as they searched for their comrade through the haze as best they could. "Don't worry. I didn't kill her. I coated the edge of my blade with harden clay." The statement Riyku gave was false; his weapon wasn't coated in clay, but more so a mixture of elements that would temporarily dull the blade.

"Bullshit!" Terry shouted as she frantically looked around for any sign of May or even Luke. "You can be the judge for yourself after I knock you out next." It was then that Riyku seemed to have risen from Terry's shadow like some kind of monster. He was aiming to reach for the back of the head, but Terry had turned around when he felt the presences of another so Riyku ended up grasping his face. Without delay, Riyku would slam the male into the ground with enough force to put him unconscious, but not enough to break anything or cause any lethal damage. All that was left now was Luke who was trying his best to look through the smoke, but everything was clouded for him.

"Not a bad team, I must say. If I had not reacted as fast I did, then you may have been able to beat me." Riyku stated as his shadowy figure became visible to Luke. "Where are May and Terry!?" Luke shouted to which Riyku would chuckle. "As I said, they are fine. I kept my word, I had no plans on killing you three. So, the final question is are you going to fight or flee?" Riyku became completely visible the moment he was within a few meters of Luke. "Fight!" Luke shouted as he charged at Riyku who smirked. "Good." Riyku would step into Luke's space the moment the male brought his blade down to cut him in half, but Riyku had intercepted the weapon by grasping hold of Luke's blade with his free hand. The jewel giving off a shine as an aura enveloped his hand. "What!?" Luke exclaimed and was about to pull back, but Riyku's Soluna Blade had come from the side and sent Luke off his feet. "Now then... I know that won't knock you out soo..." Riyku would dash towards the male holding the hilt of the main blade with both hands again, only to bring it down upon the male to force him into the ground. Dragging along the ground before flinging the male off into the wall of the box as if he were hitting a hockey puck into the goal. Riyku would rest the blade against his shoulder and proceed back to his side of the arena as he waited for the medical team to come up and take away May, Luke, and Terry who were all unconscious.

"Geez... he doesn't know how to hold back, does he?" Kristen inquired as she sighed softly. Lira would chuckle softly. "Probably not." She would reply to Kristen. "Well, that is what we are going to be up against. I doubt he will hold back at all when the times comes. We should make sure we are thoroughly prepared." Vex would state in a serious manner which caught Lira and Kristen's attention. "True." "Let's make sure we are ready." Lira and Kristen agreed with Vex. "Oh look, the next match is about to start," Vex stated as she pointed to the screen to which Lira and Kristen looked up at.

"Hooh... if it isn't you three," Riyku stated as with a mono-expression. "Huh? We don't know you." One of the guys would retort. "Really? I thought you three would, since you three had been checking me out earlier." Riyku's statement caused them a bit of a shock which seemed to give him an answer on if they were after him. It wasn't hard to connect the dots on who hired them. "So, what is Bell doing nowadays?" Riyku would narrow his eyes, the grip upon his Soluna blade tightening. Kissing his teeth one of the men shook his head. "None of your business. We were just hired to do a job." The male stated. "Yeah! So nothing personal, but you gotta die." The other man stated which caused Riyku to sigh. "Well then, before you kill me. Tell me if there are others you plan on taking out." Riyku pretty much demanded but seemed to hold back his demeanor of such.

"Well, It really doesn't matter to you. But yeah. We have three more targets after this. Then another two more... it is a shame they are participating, but there are ways to take down our targets without alerting the authorities." One of the men stated, in truth, they looked like the Bandits from the Lower District, but more of an upgraded version. "Is that so..." Riyku's tone of voice darkened. He would remove the blade from his shoulder and let the tip clash onto the ground which caused them to give him a weird look. "Enough chitchat, let's take him out, boys!" The man shouted before the three of them charged him down. "Honestly...." Riyku would mutter as he just stood there. "Take this!" One of the men shouted as they leaped at him, bringing two blades down towards him. Another guy had begun to fire off his pistols in Riyku's direction while the last guy seemed to be tossing out land mines or some kind. "You three...." Riyku would bring the Soluna Blade upward; the tip of the blade piercing through the first male. The man did not even release what had happened until he felt a sharp pain in his stomach a moment later. It was then he felt several more sharp pains penetrate through his back which caused him to scream. Riyku had used this man as a meat shield for the bullets before tossing the critically wounded male into the land mines that were displaced around him which set them off in chain reaction.

"Are not even worth my time." Riyku would activate 'Shadow Step' to rapidly travel towards the gunslinger. Bringing his blade around he made a clean cut which separated the head from the neck. All that was left was the final guy who was cursing under his breath, pulling out two pistols to unleash a barrage of bullets onto Riyku. "Blink," Riyku muttered before his body vanished and appeared behind the guy. Grasping the man by the neck he would pull the guy back while pushing his blade through the man's backside, piercing the man entirely before Riyku kicked him off of the blade. In a matter of seconds, Riyku had killed off three guys. Making his way back to his section he would glance around through the smoke, even though it was cloudy he could see clear as day largely due to his supernatural senses. It didn't take long for the medic team to arrive and interestingly they came prepared. Easily navigating through the smoke and cleaning up the mess that was made. Of course, it took a bit longer than the last two matches, but it got done.

"They must have said something that pissed him off." Jessica state which everyone nodded softly. "Do you think it has to do with what Riyku told us a while back. About the incident and about Bell Perez?" Mel seemed to inquire. "Probably," Rick stated as he tried to compose himself. "Most likely. After you guys explained it to me, I did some digging. Turns out Bell stopped showing up to school and canceled her all of her concerts around the time Riyku showed up. If anything, she is probably the mastermind behind everything." Nora put in her own statement. "But why? All he did was beat up Jack. I mean if calling her a whore as well is not enough of a reason to warrant this kind of behavior." Rick stated to which Nora would shake her head. "I don't know. I never paid much attention to Jack his girlfriend or his sister for that matter." Nora would reply to Rick who sighed heavily. "Well, I feel sorry for the next combatants. I don't think Riyku has cooled off enough, he hasn't taken that stance at all." Rick stated having made note of the fact that Riyku had the tip of his sword dipped into the ground. His posture appeared as if he were hunched over.

'Darling?' Seraphina called out through a mental link. "Putting a bounty on me is fine.... but putting one on everyone associated with me..." Riyku would growl darkly as he tightened the grip on the hilt of the blade. 'I understand how you feel, but if you lose composure you may end up making a mistake. You need to recollect yourself, my love.' Seraphina tried to soothe him, and thankfully it worked out. He would shake his head after a brief moment and bring the blade up to rest along his shoulders like before. "Thank you, Sera," Riyku stated softly and Seraphina would make a delighted noise. The next team seemed to take place before him and the smoke had long since cleared so they could easily see each other. Riyku only saw the look of frightened faces. "You know... Can we just give up?" One of the teammates asked their groupmate. "I'm fine with that." A groupmate replied. "Fuck that!" The last groupmate seemed to disagree with the others and began to rush Riyku down. "Taking this guy out after the performance he has made in his previous three matches will give us a high reward." The guy shouted as he tossed small orbs towards Riyku which seemed to bounce off the ground before exploding giving off a bright light. Riyku would cover his face with his free hand, but the feeling of something pierce through his flesh caused him to grit his teeth. His eyes shifted towards his shield points as text appeared upon his UI.

'Minor puncture wound detected! Healing with Shield Points.'

'Wound healed!'

'Minor puncture wound detected! Healing with Shield Points.'

'Wound healed!'

'Minor puncture wound detected! Healing with Shield Points.'

'Wound healed!'

The text would repeat over and over as he felt minor sharp pains dip into his skin, though he was incapable of even seeing anything. The blinding light wasn't the only thing that masked his sense. The loud bang happened to have distorted his ability to hear, and for whatever reason, he was unable to pinpoint the person dealing damage to him with his ability to detect presences or intent. His sense of smell would do no good since everything was mixed and mushed together and his sense of taste was useless at this moment in time. Clicking his tongue Riyku would release a beastly roar while stomping upon the ground. The shadows below him would spike up which caused the attacker to leap back to his team. "Damn, that was close." The male shouted as he twirled his daggers passively in his hands. "Damn it, now we HAVE to fight!" The other man shouted in frustration. "Yeah yeah. Besides, what was that skill he just used? Was it a martial skill? I know those of the Legion can use unique skills, like Flash Step, but I have never seen that one." The male stated.

"It didn't feel like a skill, but like someone or something was protecting him." The second member of the team decided to speak up. "Oh? So, like a beast tamer like you?" The first member inquired. "Hmm... Not quite. I don't get that feeling from him. It's more than just a pact or a contract. Still, since we came this far, we might as well fight. He didn't kill those of the first two matches, so he might not kill us. It seems like he is only after certain people." The woman would state merely through observation. "So, we won't die?" The attacker from before inquired while licking his lips. "I wouldn't test his patience though. Something the previous team did, made him snap. So we should still be cautious as ever." The woman stated which caused the two men to nod. The first one who was holding a sword and shield would sigh heavily while the second one was still playing with their daggers had snickered. "Fine fine. Are you going to use it here then?" He inquired. "I might have to if we want to make it to the finals." The woman replied. "Alright, I and Aevin will distract him while you prepare the summon, Maulin." The tanker would state, but it seemed the damage dealer had already dashed ahead yet again. Tossing another set of those small orbs in Riyku's direction. Riyku would grip his Soluna Blade with both hands before giving it a mighty swing. The force behind the made would shoot out an arc of wind which pushed the orbs back towards Aevin who blinked rapidly. "Yo, Brisk!" Aevin shouted back to his teammate who sighed heavily and jumped in front of him. Using his shield to shield them from the blinding light. "I've told you before several times not to charge in like that!" Brisk exclaimed. "Yeah, yeah! Thanks for the hel--" Aevin was caught off when he noticed Riyku had circled around them. "Shit!" He shouted turning on his heel to pivot after the man. "Brisk, shield Maulin!" Aevin shouted and Brisk seemed to jut towards his comrade with haste. "On it!" The male seemed to have slipped past Riyku, but not with pure speed alone. Aevin would catch up to Riyku who had slammed his Soluna against Brisk' shield which caused the male to dip down a bit from the pressure. Avein would leap towards Riyku from behind him as if preparing to jam his daggers into the male; although, Riyku had ducked down, rolled his body around with a pivot to avoid Aevin which only make the male hit nothing by air. Kissing his teeth he turned around only to see the large blade come crashing down upon his body which cratered him into the ground.

"Aevin!" Brisk shouted, though did not seem to have time to check up on his teammate since Riyku had pulled the heavy shield aside while bringing the Soluna around to take out him. Brisk would use his sword in an attempt to guard. Brisk would redirect the force of the attack away from him with either luck or skill, it served to keep him in this bout longer. "Maulin!" Brisk called out as if asking for help and as if on sync a large summoning circle would appear below them. Taking note of this Riyku would jump back out of the circle thinking it was some kind of attack spell, but no, it was something else. A large creature would rise from the circle, resembling that of a minotaur with both height and body build. In fact, it probably was a minotaur all things considered, with the exception of the crown on top of its head. "Thank you, Tarrus for answering my call!" Maulin called to her summon. "Of course Milady. I have gauged the situation through your mana. Might I inquire as to why you are fighting this battle." The minotaur asked, his eyes still upon Riyku. His large hands gripping both of his battle axes tightly. "Well, the Death Games. Why else?" Maulin stated as she helped Brisk retreat further back. "Yes, I get that. But, this battle itself. You should have forfeit. This person is not a man, but a monster. I detect the aura of a caged beast. One waiting to break free. I must say, even I may not come out of this battle unscathed. Get your friend and fall back as far as you can. I'll do what I can." The minotaur stated which caused Maulin to raise a brow. "What do you mean, caged beast? He isn't human?" She asked to which the minotaur shook his head. "No. He is not." Tarrus stated which caused Maulin to gulp heavily. She would rush towards Avein who was still breathing, barely... he wasn't inflicted with any outside wounds though. "Wait... you did cut him down?" Maulin looked towards Riyku when she confirmed that Avein was not in a critical state.

Riyku looked towards her and shook his head. "You are not my target. I don't mind taking you three... four." Riyku would correct himself before continuing, "out. However, you are more than welcome to give up. I don't know anything about summons, so if you take damage equal to that of what I inflict on your summon. I can assure you, you won't feel fine by the end of this." Riyku stated firmly, withdrawing the second blade from the Soluna as he crouched low to the ground as if he were about to take off. "We've already come this far. If you don't plan on killing us, I see no reason to give in. Tarrus give it your all!" Maulin shouted which the minotaur smirked. "Of course Milady. You!" The minotaur pointed his battle ax towards Riyku. "I, King of Minotaurs, Tarrus, challenge you to a one on one duel. Winner takes all!" Even though this was a pointless feat, somewhere deep down inside the minotaur had this feeling that Riyku would accept. A smirk curved across his face, "Very well. I need to let off some steam. So you'll do just fine. I accept your challenge." It was then that Riyku would kick off of his heel and the battle would commence.