114 Black Hole

{RIKU POV}

Riku ground his teeth in pain as he forced himself to stand up yet again. Despite his best efforts, he got clipped by another sonic wave after he got caught out of position. Apparently, the woman wasn't just throwing out random attacks hoping something would stick. She was actually capable of careful thought, and her planning got to him hard as she cornered him with careful shots before blasting him with a sonic wave that almost felt twice as powerful as the first one he ate.

Frankly, he shouldn't even be standing anymore. But unsurprisingly, he kept on going. His pride demanded his victory. Or at the very least, a strategic retreat without loss of face. Obviously, the latter was becoming more and more likely by the second, but it still remains to be seen if he could even do such a thing without sustaining further injuries.

"That's what I like to see," the woman grinned, her eyes glinting with unrestrained hate. "A man groveling at my feet... Such a rare sight..."

The former assassin remained silent, content with simply letting her talk to herself like this. Stalling was stalling, after all. The more time she talked, the less time she had to kick his teeth in.

"Not going to say anything?" she taunted. "What?! You don't even like talking to women?!"

Another shout meant another attack, and Riku had no choice but to use his whip as a shield as his legs refused to work at the speed he wanted them to anymore. The sonic wave came, and he felt blood spilling out from his mouth as he tanked the hit head on. Despite this, he remained standing, his sheer stubborn pride refusing to let him pass out from all of the pain that he was feeling.

"Speak! Ridicule me! Anything!"

The former assassin gritted his teeth as more sonic waves came crashing against his whip barrier. Each one made his knees buckle, his swinging arm already swelling from the pain as blood seeped out of his very pores. And yet despite this, he couldn't help but feel a bit bad for his opponent. Even he could tell that she had probably gone through something very traumatic for her to be this hostile to him. And with her constantly pointing out his gender....

She probably didn't die quietly.

"Fine then! Let me help you pass on to the afterlife faster!"

The woman screamed bloody murder as she approached, her eyes manic as she spread her arms out as if waiting for him to attack. Not that he would at that point, seeing as she still had the sonic barrier keeping her safe. No, he had lost here. He just had to extract himself from the situation in one piece before she got too much of an advantage.

Hissing through his teeth, Riku pushed his legs to work, his speed returning to him albeit with great pain as he ran as fast as he could away from the woman. It wasn't ideal, and it was immediately replied with a sonic wave rushing straight at him.

"Nghh..."

Using the whip, he lessened the blow somewhat before quickly retaliating by cracking his weapon right at the woman's face. It wouldn't do damage, but it would at least slow her down by knocking her down.

"What the- You scum!"

Her vitriolic response once again washed over him, her screams rattling his bones down to the very marrow as he did his best to remain standing. Recalling the whip, he bit through his lip as he pushed himself forward, making his way back to Shizu who hopefully already had an exit strategy ready for them.

With the woman still on his tail, Riku eventually arrived at his destination. Surprisingly, Shizu was still there, and it looked like she had discovered something based on how there was a massive growing galaxy right underneath her.

"Riku! We're- AHH!"

He then blinked as the fortune teller suddenly disappeared right in front of him, swallowed by the growing black hole underneath without so much as a warning.

Somehow, he didn't know if she made the right decision or not. Should he jump in with her? It really looked like that was the case...

"I'm coming for you, Champion of Nyx!"

But before he could even think about such a decision, the choice was made for him as the ensuing sonic wave came rushing right for him. Immediately, he jumped in, hoping that Shizu had completed the challenge properly.

Not that it would matter though. If this was truly the way forward, then he was fully expecting that Italian woman to come jumping in right after him. At that point, the fight would continue, but hopefully for the better with Shizu now being with him and potentially healing him somewhat.

***

{ELEONORE POV}

"What the- Where did that bastard go?!"

Eleonore screamed in rage as her target disappeared right in front of her. In one moment, he was still there. Then he jumped into some kind of black hole, and the next moment, he was gone. Gone like those that had done unspeakable things to her. Like those that didn't even see the wrath of justice raining down on them for everything they've done...

It filled her with rage.

"Get back here!"

Her eyes wide with manic frenzy, the former singer eyed the one path that the man jumped into. Clearly, it was a way forward, especially recalling Ragnarok's clue as to what she was supposed to do in this Realm in the first place. To find something called an office... Then perhaps?

She bared her teeth with a smile as she moved towards the black hole. Stepping forward, she didn't even know what she was getting into, only that she was going to kill another man that could possibly harm her and her new life. Truly, if her wish hadn't been to keep her healed voice, then she would've wished for all men to disappear from the world...

But then...

"Wait... Huh?"

Against expectations, the moment her foot stepped foot above the black hole, the thing suddenly shrank back down, barring her from entry.

"No... NO!"

Angry, she shouted at the hole, only for it to open up once more before her eyes.

With a manic grin, she jumped in, hoping that she would finally finish the job that her past self never had the strength to do despite everything that had been taken from her.