69 Exploding Planets

{RIKU POV}

{REALM: THE SEA OF STARS}

{DEPTH 12}

"They're... He's gaining on us."

Riku did his best not to pinch the bridge of his nose the moment he heard Shizu tell him that Stephen was starting to catch up to them. Sure, they had a sizeable lead on him, but that was only because the man didn't even bother chasing them at first. It almost looked like he just suddenly lost interest in them and just let them go. Obviously, that was no longer the case. Also...

"Nyx, didn't you just tell me that you and your siblings can't help us too much? How is his boat that fast then?"

The goddess merely shrugged. "I have no idea. And to be fair, I don't think Big Brother Astra would be the type to break the rules."

"Uhh... guys?"

Shizu nervous tone tipped the former assassin at their impending fight as they both stared at the rapidly approaching yacht coming in from behind them. It wasn't concealed in water anymore like last time, but in this case, there were now two miniature Jupiters just casually floating in front of their ship. Riku almost couldn't believe his eyes at such a sight. But then again, perhaps the insanity of this game was just getting started in terms of the actual powers his fellow Champions had at their disposal.

"A-Are those planets? Like, actual planets?" Shizu weakly asked.

"So it would seem," Riku coolly replied, his hand already on his knife in preparation.

"Uhm... How do we fight that?"

"By not getting hit," the former assassin blankly stated. "I need you to start throwing everything you have at him."

"W-What? But I haven't even-"

Riku didn't bother letting Shizu get a word in as he jumped to the back of their boat to look at the yacht rapidly gaining on them. Judging by how the two massive planets in front of the yacht seemed to just bend the waters around them, he could only guess that they had their own gravitational pull them. It was also probably the reason how the Champion of Astra quickly caught up to them.

Well, no matter. So long as he wouldn't throw these massive planets at them, they should be fine for now. However, the closer he got to them, the slower they would probably get with the planets' gravity pulling them closer to the enemy.

'Nyx, how's our speed?' he asked.

/Huh? Still the usual,/ Nyx confusedly replied. /Why?/

'Tell me when we're slowing down,' he told her. 'Also, if we reach the portal, take us down immediately.'

/Sure?/ the goddess stated. /I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, I guess./

With his instructions put in play, Riku simply waited patiently as Stephen's yacht slowly caught up to them. Lacking in ranged abilities, he no real way of testing out their enemy's defenses. Meanwhile, Shizu was still awkwardly trying to climb up to the cabin roof where he was currently standing. The fortune teller didn't have the strength to just jump up to him, so all she could do was use her arms until she was finally standing beside him.

"Y-You didn't have to leave me behind, you know," Shizu grumbled beside him. "And as I was saying, I can't just keep using [Fate's Edict], you know. It's tiring."

"Then just throw a few cards and see what sticks," Riku scoffed. "Besides, I thought I taught you enough already to know that I didn't mean for you to throw everything you have at this man immediately."

"I know... But seriously, are we just going to let this guy try and kill us?"

"Of course not. We just need him to-"

"Hah! There's no running away from the power of the universe!"

Riku narrowed his eyes as he quickly turned his attention to the offending Champion. Sure enough, more balls began manifesting around the man as they all orbited around him like planets, all of them made with different colors and sizes as they floated at the ready.

"Shizu, get ready."

The fortune teller simply nodded before adding a few cards in between her fingers. If this was like last time, then they should expect-

*FWOOSH FWOOSH FWOOSH*

The former assassin moved quickly as a dozen planets began flying at them in record speeds. Thanks to his [Chaotic Tempering,] Riku was easily able to keep up with the speed, his knife slicing and deflecting the miniature planets with ease while Shizu began to shoot some of them down with her limited capabilities, which was a godsend since the the planets just kept on coming.

"They're so hard to hit!" Shizu yelled in annoyance as she kept flinging card after card against the onslaught. "And they're so many too!"

Riku kept quiet as he simply let his knife do the work. Moving in front of Shizu, he began taking out the planets that got past her defense, keeping both of them safe as they both watched the yacht come closer and closer by the second.

'This can't go on,' Riku thought as he clicked his teeth, his knife slicing and dicing with ease. 'We have to fight back somehow-'

*BOOM!*

His eyes widened as a sudden explosion suddenly took him off guard. Thrown off of the roof of the cabin, him and Shizu painfully landed on their backs as his hands burned from the attack. What happened back there?

"O-Owww..." Shizu groaned as she slowly picked herself off the ground. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know," Riku hissed. "But-"

*BOOM BOOM BOOM*

More explosions began battering the ship as the back of the cabin began getting peppered with exploding projectiles. Riku was pretty sure that wasn't the case before though...

'Exploding planets?' he asked himself. 'Wait... Maybe he could make planets that had different compositions then...'

It made sense. After all, the planets they were dealing with earlier felt more like slicing through metal. Somewhere along the way, the planets got harder, some even got hotter, making his knife glow a dull red from all of the attacks. It would only mean that he could make planets that could explode.

That... complicated things.