"I'll kill you! Every last one of you! I'm going to carve you into ribbons!"
"...Yui, stay there with Fee-kun. I'll end this in a moment."
Rielle had reached her boiling point, her mind clouded by Fee's mockery and Ryuga's sudden interference.
Moving so fast she left afterimages, she closed the distance while dragging her blades along the walls and floor. Sparks flew as the steel gouged deep furrows into the hallway, a physical manifestation of her malice. She fixed her sights on the cowering Yui and brought her twin swords down in a lethal arc—only for the strike to be effortlessly intercepted by a katana extending from the side.
"What...!?"
"Just as I thought. You act like a typical coward, only targeting those weaker than yourself."
Ryuga’s calm dismissal sent a fresh surge of fury through Rielle.
She shifted her focus from the children to Ryuga, unleashing a frantic flurry of strikes.
"A coward!? You dare call me a coward—me, who has transcended humanity to become a Superior Species!? I'll never forgive you! I'll tear you apart!"
Rielle swung her twin swords with wild abandon, determined to slice Ryuga to pieces. Parrying both blades with his single katana, Ryuga appeared to be entirely on the defensive, seemingly unable to find an opening to counter.
"Ha, ha, ha! What's wrong? At this rate, my blades will have you in shreds!"
Sensing she had the upper hand, Rielle’s confidence returned. As she pressed her advantage, she began to mock him, relishing the chance to pay him back for his earlier interference.
"You acted so high and mighty rushing to your sister's side, but look at you—you can't do a thing! 'Help me, Brother!' Oh, the way that girl wailed was absolutely pathetic! It was comedy at its finest! I wonder what kind of look she'll have when I slaughter you right in front of her? I'm sure it will be an exquisite mask of despair!"
"..."
Ryuga remained silent, parrying the storm of blades while he listened to her taunts. Convinced he was cornered and helpless, Rielle sneered. She moved on from him to mock the person he held most dear.
"Oh, but wait... maybe she won't? After all, the girl is blind, isn't she? She won't even be able to see her precious brother die! Lucky you! You won't have to worry about your sister watching your pathetic final moments!"
"..."
"She's a failure, and so are you! The weak exist to feed the strong—that is the Truth of the World, the Destiny of the World! You are all destined to be trampled beneath our feet!!"
With a shrill scream, Rielle increased the intensity of her assault. As the metallic ring of clashing blades echoed through the hall, she pushed Ryuga further back, her voice rising in a shout of certain victory.
"Now, this is the end! Once you're dead, I'll finish off that blind failure of a sister—eh?"
Rielle swung her twin swords in a lethal X-shape, aiming for Ryuga's throat. But the sensation that traveled up her arms felt wrong. Confused, she let out a bewildered gasp.
The blades she had swung were gone. They hadn't just broken; they had been shorn off halfway down the length, the steel cut through with impossible precision. She stared at the severed edges, which looked as though they had been sliced by a razor. For a moment, she couldn't comprehend what had happened.
Then, a wave of killing intent so overwhelming it made her soul shiver crashed over her. Cold sweat erupted across her body. Before she could process a single thought, she was hurled backward, her frame slamming into the wall with bone-crushing force.
"Gah...! Wh-what? How...?"
"You're sturdier than I expected. I suppose that means I can afford to be a bit more serious."
Ryuga watched her as she gasped for air, his voice low and steady. Though her physical injuries were relatively minor, the shock of being overpowered so completely left her mind reeling. She stared up at Ryuga, her eyes wide with terror.
"...We're in front of Yui and Fee-kun. I didn't want to get carried away and bifurcate you—it wouldn't be a pleasant sight for them. I was trying to gauge exactly how much power I could use without killing you instantly. But I'll admit, my temper got the better of me. I'll have to be more careful."
"Y-you were... holding back? No... that's impossible...!"
She wanted to scream that it was a fluke, a bluff. But as she remembered how easily he had seen through her first strike and how he had intercepted her with such calm precision, the last of her confidence evaporated.
In the heartbeat before she was thrown, he had shattered her twin swords with a single stroke and struck her down before she could even see him move. The realization that she couldn't even perceive his speed made her entire body tremble.
"The weak are food for the strong, destined to be trampled... those were your words, weren't they?" Ryuga said indifferently. "Then, as your superior, I have this to tell you."
He slowly leveled the tip of his katana at her. A heavy pressure radiated from him as his magic power, resembling a flickering blue flame, began to rise. With a face devoid of mercy, Ryuga locked his eyes on the Magic Armor Beast and delivered his final judgment.