"Idiot! You really thought you could run from me? Let's see how your jaw feels about that!"
Ryuuto blurred forward, his speed cutting through the air like a razor. In the blink of an eye, he was right in front of Ultron, staring into the robot's flickering optics. The corners of his mouth curved into that same reckless grin that always came before something catastrophic.
Before Ultron could even charge his weapons, Ryuuto spun and launched a Leaf Great Whirlwind kick straight into his chin.
"Bang!"
Metal screamed. The hit sent Ultron flying skyward, sparks bursting from his face like fireworks on New Year's Eve. His titanium jaw split into a spiderweb of cracks, fragments scattering like shattered glass.
Ultron tumbled through the air, convulsing from feedback shocks.
"Damn… it… I—"
Too late. Ryuuto was already there again, leaping up and smashing him back to the ground with a downward kick so heavy it split the earth. The explosion of dirt and fire swallowed the battlefield.
From a distance, Katie Dee clapped her hands like a fangirl watching her favorite hero. "Oh my god, Susan-san! Did you see that!? He just broke Ultron's face! My brother's so freaking cool!"
Susan beamed, eyes shining. "He always was. He's our pride… our light."
Ultron, half-buried in rubble, twitched. His voice came out broken, mechanical, and bitter. "Me… defeated by a human? Impossible…"
Ryuuto landed beside him, dust swirling around his boots. "Remember this: you're just a machine built by humans. Don't act like a god."
He slammed his foot into Ultron's chest, twisting. The metal shell groaned, caved in, and the so-called perfect AI went silent, his body sinking into the crater like a failed prototype.
Heimdall, still sprinting for his life in the distance, made the mistake of looking back. His heart sank. Ultron—the great metal tyrant—was nothing more than scrap now.
"Don't tell me…" He stopped, legs shaking.
"Can't run anymore?"
The voice came from right in front of him.
Ryuuto had crossed the battlefield in a heartbeat, appearing out of thin air. His grin was playful, his eyes predatory. Heimdall's entire body tensed as though staring into a god of death.
"Even if I die, I'll go down swinging!" Heimdall roared, hurling a punch straight at Ryuuto's head.
It landed—sort of.
Ryuuto didn't even blink. "You've got guts. I'll give you that."
Then his fist moved—just once.
The sound of impact was sharp, clean, and horrifying.
"Crack."
Heimdall's eyes widened. Pain detonated through his arm as bones shattered like glass under Ryuuto's counterpunch. His nerves screamed; he nearly vomited from the sheer agony.
He couldn't even curse properly. Just breathless gasps and twitching fingers.
"You're tough, huh?" Ryuuto tilted his head, grinning. "Want another one? I'll even use my right hand this time."
Heimdall's face twisted in despair. "I… damn you!"
The insult barely left his lips before Ryuuto's leg whipped around in a blur.
The kick hit his abdomen with the sound of a thunderclap. Heimdall's body folded like paper, a spray of blood flying from his mouth as he was launched across the battlefield, crashing into a wall with a seismic crack.
He didn't get back up.
Ryuuto exhaled, feeling the burn of his muscles screaming from the Eight Inner Gates technique. The air shimmered as he released it, his aura fading from blinding to human again.
He popped open several vials of Life Potion, chugging them with the nonchalance of someone drinking soda. His body's wounds closed almost instantly.
"Next," he muttered.
Lauf—the Frost Giant who'd been pretending to play dead this whole time—jerked up like a startled animal. "D-Don't come any closer! I surrender, okay!? I GIVE UP!"
Ryuuto didn't even slow down.
"Nope."
Hands on hips, he strode forward, grinning like a cat that just found a mouse colony. Lauf flinched, raising both hands over his chest protectively, whimpering like a scolded child.
"Relax," Ryuuto said, rubbing his hands together, that wicked glint back in his eyes. "It's just payback time—for all the crap you've pulled."
But just as he stepped forward, a sharp voice echoed inside his head.
[Telepathic Link Established]
It was unmistakable—Professor Charles Xavier's voice.
"Ryuuto. Stop."
The battlefield froze.
Ryuuto frowned, tilting his head. "Tch… timing's impeccable as always, old man."